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Cross-Party Commission Urges UK to Scrap Two-Child Benefit Cap in Anti-Poverty Overhaul

Its report sets out a £12.5bn 'basic minimum' that it estimates would lift 4.2 million people out of poverty.

Overview

  • Abolishing the cap is presented as the keystone of a wider package that would raise Universal Credit and create a benefits floor to prevent deep poverty.
  • The limit, introduced in 2017, withholds about £3,500 a year for third and subsequent children and currently affects roughly 1.7 million children.
  • Ministers acknowledged the findings and highlighted jobcentre reforms, expanded free school meals and a forthcoming child poverty strategy, without committing to end the cap.
  • Commission members include figures from Labour, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, adding political breadth ahead of the autumn strategy.
  • The report also condemns the now-abandoned plan to cut £5bn from disability benefits, saying it would have pushed about 250,000 disabled people into poverty.