London has one of the highest rates of child poverty in England, with 33 per cent of children in the capital living in poverty.
Across the UK, 42 per cent of children in families with three or more children live in poverty. The two-child benefit cap has impacted an estimated 1.5 million children.
A report by the Child Poverty Action Group estimates that removing the two-child benefit cap would cost £1.3 billion a year but would lift 250,000 children out of poverty overnight and result in 850,000 children living in less deep poverty.
Because of this, the London Assembly is today calling on the Government to drop the two-child benefit cap, and for the Mayor and the Assembly Chair to write to the Government urging for its removal.
Hina Bokhari AM, who proposed the motion, said:
“Far too many children in London grow up in poverty and it is clear that the two-child benefit cap is disproportionately impacting children across the capital.
“Removing the two-child benefit cap would lift 250,000 children out of poverty overnight and result in 850,000 children living in less deep poverty.
“Studies have also shown that the benefit cap has not resulted in more people entering the jobs market or working increased hours like proponents had originally argued it would.
“I’m proud today that the London Assembly has called on the UK Government to drop the two-child benefit cap and help lift London’s children out of poverty.”
The full text of the motion is:
This Assembly notes:
- That London has one of the highest rates of child poverty in England with 33% of children in the capital living in poverty [1], with the figure as high as 48% in some London boroughs such as Tower Hamlets [2].
- Charities such as Child Poverty Action Group have highlighted how the Two Child Benefit Cap has a disproportionately negative impact on London compared to the rest of the country [3].
- In some London boroughs, three in ten children live in households affected by the two-child limits [4].
- Across the UK, 42 per cent of children living in families with three or more children live in poverty [5]. The two-child benefit cap has impacted an estimated 1.5 million children [6].
- A recent report from the Child Poverty Action Group states that the economic and societal effects of child poverty, including spending on public services, costs the UK £39 billion every year [7].
- That a report by the Child Poverty Action Group estimates that removing the Two Child Benefit Cap would cost £1.3bn a year but would lift 250,000 children out of poverty overnight and result in 850,000 children living in less deep poverty [8].
- A study by the London School of Economics has found that the Two Child Benefit Cap has seen no positive impact on employment rates or on work hours [9].
This Assembly calls for:
- The Mayor of London, alongside the Chair of the London Assembly, to write to the UK Government calling for the Two Child Benefit cap to be removed.
- The UK Government to drop the Two Child Benefit Cap.
Notes to editors
- https://endchildpoverty.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Local-indicators-of-child-poverty-after-housing-costs_Final-Report-3.pdf
- https://trustforlondon.org.uk/data/child-poverty-borough/
- https://www.london.gov.uk/about-us/londonassembly/meetings/mgChooseMDocPack.aspx?ID=7420&SID=28848
- https://www.london.gov.uk/about-us/londonassembly/meetings/mgChooseMDocPack.aspx?ID=7420&SID=28848
- https://cpag.org.uk/child-poverty/child-poverty-facts-and-figures
- https://www.lse.ac.uk/research/research-for-the-world/politics/two-child-benefit-cap-poverty#:~:text=One%20in%20ten%20UK%20children,continues%20to%20rise%20each%20year
- https://cpag.org.uk/policy-and-campaigns/briefing/cost-child-poverty-2023
- https://cpag.org.uk/child-poverty/solutions-poverty
- https://www.lse.ac.uk/research/research-for-the-world/politics/two-child-benefit-cap-poverty#:~:text=Introduced%20in%202017%2C%20the%20UK,term%20opportunities%20and%20life%20chances
- Watch the full webcast.
- The motion was agreed unanimously.
- Hina Bokhari AM, who proposed the motion, is available for interviews.
- As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.
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