Social Security Benefits: Polygamy
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of benefits payments to spouses in polygamous marriages (i) made in the past 12 months and (ii) expected to be made in the forthcoming 12 months.
Answered by Sir Stephen Timms
The most recent published data (August 2025) from the Housing Benefit Single Housing Extract (SHBE) indicates that there are fewer than ten households where claimants are recorded as being in a polygamous marriage formed in another country. In these exceptional cases, there is no financial benefit as more would be paid in benefits if the additional person claimed as a single person.
Polygamous marriages are illegal in the UK. Immigration rules have generally prevented the formation of polygamous households in this country since 1988. Benefit support is only available where the marriage took place in a country where the practice is legal.
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