This week marked seven years since the “cruellest welfare policy in over a decade” was introduced. The two-child limit is trapping hundreds of thousands of kids in poverty. Read about it, and more, in this newsletter
Good morning. This week we marked an unhappy birthday.
The two-child limit, considered the cruellest welfare policy in over a decade, turned seven.
It means families claiming benefits who have a third or subsequent children after April 2017 are denied up to ÂŁ3,235 per year per child compared with families with kids born sooner.
It’s trapping children in destitution. An estimated 250,000 kids could be lifted out of poverty if the government scrapped the two-child limit, boosting the economy in the long-term as they would have a better chance at a brighter future.
Shockingly, 2,590 women had to disclose that they were raped to get an exemption from the two-child limit last year.
Megan, a single mother claiming benefits, was afraid to tell her Jobcentre she was pregnant because of the two-child limit.
Charities, campaigners and families are fighting for the two-child limit to be scrapped and last week handed the DWP an unhappy birthday card to mark seven years of the policy. There’s still a long way to go, and Keir Starmer has said Labour would keep the cap.
Also in this newsletter, we’ve got advice on where to get free childcare as the scheme expands this month…
Megan's story: 'I was really worried to let the Jobcentre know I was pregnant’
Megan, a single mother, feared telling the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) she was having a third baby because of the “cruel” two-child limit on benefits.
She was already struggling to afford the essentials in the cost of living crisis. Her universal credit was failing to stretch, and she worried about how her growing family would survive.
“I was really, really worried to let the Jobcentre know,” Megan, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, says.
“You get a certificate when you’re about halfway through your pregnancy. I should have told the Jobcentre then when I received the certificate, but I was really concerned about what could come of it.”
Megan, who is based in the North of England, is having to spend all the benefits she gets on survival. “The money doesn’t get spent on dancing classes or football,” she said. “It goes on the extra food, the gas, the electricity, because the bills for everything are just too much.”
Sure Start centres helped poorer children do better at GCSEs – before being decimated by Tories. Children eligible for free school meals saw their GCSE results improve by three grades thanks to Sure Start centres, new research found. Get the story.
Taking an earlier, smaller state pension could see pensioners 'suffer for the rest of their lives'. Charities have called for the government to reform the pension system but expressed concern about people taking a reduced state pension sooner. Read more.
Government must fix council tax benefits, charity says, as millions pushed into debt. Citizens Advice has urged the government to fix council tax support and ensure it is properly funded as bills rise this month. Get more.
'I feel judged for being smelly': Millions can't afford to wash their clothes as hygiene poverty soars. Almost a third of people facing hygiene poverty have avoided leaving the house in the last month, affecting their mental and physical health. Here’s the story.
'DWP has learnt nothing': DWP sparks fury by seizing woman's ÂŁ16k inheritance over Co-op job. Vivienne Groom was overpaid her carer's allowance over mistakenly failing to tell the DWP about her minimum wage supermarket job. Read more.
'A national scandal': Shocking number of kids living in dangerously mouldy homes, social workers say. New polling of social workers has revealed the reality of people's living conditions across the UK in the cost of living crisis. Get the story.
Rent will rise faster than wages for years, think tank warns: 'Nowhere to hide from housing crisis'. Renters still face 13% rise in rents over the next three years, according to the Resolution Foundation. Get more.
Sadiq Khan promises 6,000 rent control homes for London key workers: 'I'll be a renters' champion'. Campaigners urge the Mayor to keep the heat on government to bring in wider rent controls. Read about it.
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DWP shamed over 'cruel' two-child benefit cap as millions trapped in poverty: 'Scrap this sibling tax'
The DWP was handed a huge birthday card to lament seven years of the two-child benefit limit.
The End Child Poverty Coalition held the stunt outside the DWP in London, and the card was presented by charity representatives, parents, youth activists and children.
Joseph Howes, chief executive of Buttle UK and chair of the End Child Poverty Coalition said: “It is sad to think that the cruel two-child limit has now been in place for seven years. That is seven years of families living in poverty as a result.
“Many families could have planned to support more than two children through work alone, but may have then suffered a family break up, death of a partner, losing a job and the cost of living crisis – and are no longer able to. Sadly, our benefits system is not set up to catch these families when they fall.
“In this election year political parties can no longer ignore the harm this policy causes, and must commit to scrapping this sibling tax.”
Saving those coins: How to get 15 hours free childcare
More children can get 15 hours of free childcare from this month.
All children aged between three and four currently get at least 15 hours of free childcare each week, for 38 weeks of the year.
It was also already available to some two-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds.
And now the scheme has opened up to two-year-olds whose parents are working.
It’s important to know about what support you could be entitled to. Here, we explain the expansion of 15 hours free childcare – including how to apply, whether there are enough nursery spaces and other financial help you can get if you’re not eligible.
