Achi news desk-
Next year, 250,000 more children will be affected, rising to 670,000 before the end of the next parliament.
Labor is coming under increasing pressure to commit to some form of reform.
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The policy introduced by George Osborne means that households claiming child tax credit or inclusive credit cannot claim for a third or subsequent child.
However, there is an exception for families where a third child is the result of “non-consensual conception.”
To apply for the so-called “rape clause”, claimants must either be able to point to a conviction for rape or coercion, controlling behaviour, or a Criminal Injuries scheme award, or have a third party such as a health professional or social worker. fill in a form for the DWP.
When fully introduced, it will affect one in five children, rising to 38% of those in the poorest fifth of households, according to IFS research.
He said 43% of children in households with at least one person of Bangladeshi or Pakistani origin will be affected.
Affected households will lose an average of £4,300 a year, which is 10% of their income, according to the analysis.
The introduction of the cap has helped to raise the proportion of children in large families who are in relative poverty from 35% in 2014-15 to 46% in 2022-23, a period when poverty fell for families with one or two children. IFS said.
The research organization said removing the limit would cost the Government around £3.4 billion a year, roughly the same as freezing fuel duty for the next parliament.
Eduin Latimer, IFS research economist, said: “The two-child limit is one of the most significant welfare cuts since 2010 and, unlike many of those cuts, it becomes more important every year as it is introduce to more families.”
Mubin Haq, chief executive of the abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, which funded the research, said: “The limit has contributed significantly to child poverty among large families during a period when poverty fell for families with one or two children.
“If the next government is serious about tackling child poverty, it will need to review the two-child limit.
“There is an inherent unfairness in the policy as it only affects those children born after April 5 2017.
“The majority of families affected are in work or have caring responsibilities for disabled relatives or young children.”
Writing in the Daily Record, Stephen Flynn said: “The other strange thing about this election is that Sir Keir Starmer’s overwhelming caution stifles any sense of enthusiasm.
“Starmer’s status quo, his choice to change the guard but not to change course, will not bring about real change.
“The result of Starmer’s warning means more spending cuts, more Brexit and more of the same.”
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While Labour’s manifesto, published last week, included a promise of an “ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty” there was no mention of the two-child limit.
Speaking during the Sky News Battle for No10 program on Wednesday night, Sir Keir was asked why he would not remove the cap.
He said: “It’s a difficult choice.
“We will have a strategy against child poverty. Of course we will.
“But the easiest thing in the world is what Rishi Sunak is doing.
“[It] is to simply say that you can have everything become unfunded commitments, unfunded promises.
“That’s what got us into this problem in the first place. And working people are paying the price for higher bills and their mortgages.
“I’m not prepared to have a Labor government ever make that mistake.”
