All posts tagged: TwoChild

End to two-child benefit cap offers £300-a-month lifeline to cash-strapped families | Family finances

End to two-child benefit cap offers £300-a-month lifeline to cash-strapped families | Family finances

Published by Sam Flores

The two-child benefit policy has been described as a “cap on childhood” and as it comes to an end, Claire* hopes to throw a birthday party for her son. It is a celebration most children may take for granted, but Claire and her partner run out of money at the end of every month, skipping meals so that their three children can eat. Her son, now in his final year at primary school, has never had a party. The limit, which was introduced under the Conservatives in 2017 and allowed parents to claim universal credit (UC) or tax credits for their first two children only, was scrapped by the Labour government at the last budget. The decision means from 6 April low-income families could be entitled to a payment equal to about £300 a month for each additional child in the household. Families already on UC should get the extra money automatically. Claire’s story is one of many collected by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), which estimates 109 children have been pushed into poverty …

Bungling Robert Jenrick And Suella Braverman Accidentally Vote To Scrap Two-Child Benefit Cap

Bungling Robert Jenrick And Suella Braverman Accidentally Vote To Scrap Two-Child Benefit Cap

Published by Sam Flores

Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick when they were in Boris Johnson’s cabinet. NurPhoto via NurPhoto via Getty Images Reform UK MPs Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick voted to scrap the two-child benefit cap – even though their party is now in favour of keeping it. The bungling pair accidentally walked into the wrong voting lobbies in the House of Commons on Tuesday night. The five other Reform MPs who took part voted against scrapping it, in keeping with what is now their party’s policy. One Labour MP said the mix-up showed they “couldn’t run a bath, let alone a country”. Reform UK sources initially tried to claim that it was a “genuine mistake” by Braverman and Jenrick – who both defected from the Tories last month – and that their votes had not been registered. However, official Commons records show that the pair did vote along with Labour, the Lib Dems, the SNP, DUP and Plaid Cymru to scrap the cap. The motion to end the cap, which was introduced by the last Tory government …

Reeves Says Farage’s Push To Keep Two-Child Cap Is Based On Race

Reeves Says Farage’s Push To Keep Two-Child Cap Is Based On Race

Published by Sam Flores

Rachel Reeves has claimed Nigel Farage’s opposition to the lifting of the two-child benefit cap is based on skin colour. The chancellor’s punchy attack on the Reform UK leader comes as she is set to reveal new legislation to lift the Tory policy in April. It comes a year after Labour insisted on keeping it as as cost-cutting measure, and earning plenty of backlash from its own MPs in the process. Reeves told the Guardian she had delayed removing the cap, meant to help lift 550,000 children out of poverty, until the markets were stable. This U-turn is set to cost the government £3 billion a year by 2029-30. Farage told a press conference on Wednesday that his party will be voting against scrapping the cap, because he was concerned it would benefit “huge numbers of foreign-born people”. The chancellor claimed that effectively suggested some children deserved to be in poverty. She told the newspaper: “I don’t really care what colour a kid’s skin is – some deserve to be in poverty and some don’t? …