Universal Credit: Children
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to reduce child poverty in families affected by the two-child limit in Universal Credit claims.
Answered by Alison McGovern
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child.
The Child Poverty Taskforce, co-chaired by the Work and Pensions and Education Secretaries, has started urgent work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in Spring and will explore all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty.
The vital work of the Taskforce comes alongside the Government’s commitments to roll out free breakfast clubs at all primary schools, setting every child up at the start of the day ready to learn, expanding childcare to deliver work choices for parents and life chances for children, provide stronger protection for families who rent privately as well as deliver our plan to make work pay.
As of April 2024, the number of children (third or subsequent children born on or after 6 April 2017) affected by the policy to provide support for a maximum of 2 children was 470,000.
| Number of households affected by the policy | Total number of children in households affected by the policy | Number of third or subsequent children in households affected by the policy | Number of children affected by the policy (third or subsequent children born on or after 6 April 2017) |
GB Total | 380,000 | 1,300,000 | 580,000 | 470,000 |
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