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New official analysis shows Nigel FarageChild welfare policy to plummet by at least 450,000 Children falling back into poverty If reform Britain is to win power.
Mr Farage He made headlines a few months ago when he announced he would lift the cap on benefits for two children labor It was decided to do this in last month’s budget.
But the Reform UK leader later clarified that this would only apply to “working-class Britons, couples working 37.5 hours a week”.
New Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) analysis shows that of the 470,000 households affected by the two-child limit (Universal Credit with three or more children, where the third child was born after 6 April 2017), only 3,700 households (less than 0.8% of the total) have two adults working full-time.
This means the cap will be reintroduced to apply to the vast majority of them.
Charities warn this means reform policy is little different from Tory plans to fully reinstate the two-child benefit cap, with Kemi Badenock claiming the £3.5bn to lift the cap is “unaffordable” and that the Budget is “for welfare street”.
As Labor and the Reform Party battle for votes in working-class communities, Labor leader Anna Turley MP warned: “Nigel Farage may brag about being on the side of low-paid workers, but his bogus two-child policy will do little to help anyone he pretends to care about and will hardly lift any child out of poverty.
“The Conservatives pushed 900,000 children into poverty during their time in office and are openly committed to exacerbating child poverty again.”
But a Reform UK spokesman countered: “Labour’s budget beats the clock on Britain’s welfare payments. Their wholesale scrapping of the two-child cap proves this government lacks the courage to tackle a runaway welfare bill and support Britain’s working families, instead choosing to reward those on benefits.”
“The reform will reinstate the two-child limit, except for British families where both parents are working full-time, which will save hard-working British taxpayers £2.7 billion a year over the next five years and incentivize more people to find work.”
However, charities have warned of the impact of the reform policy on child poverty in the UK.
Peter Matejic, chief analyst at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: “In terms of poverty, abolishing the two-child limit across the board is the best decision and is an essential part of any credible child poverty strategy.
“Ending poverty is the most cost-effective way to reduce child poverty, which will reduce demand on public services in the medium term and improve health and education outcomes for children who will be constrained by the end of this decade.
“Both the Reform and Conservative plans will push around half a million children into poverty.”
Dan Paskins, executive director of UK Impact, said: “We have been clear for many years that fully lifting the cap on the two-child benefit is the most cost-effective way to lift large numbers of children out of poverty. We are delighted to see the UK government announce in the Budget the lifting of this cap, which according to their own assessment will lift 450,000 children out of poverty. Only by fully lifting the policy can we get closer to helping children get the start in life they deserve.”
Meagan Levin, policy manager at Turn2us, added: “Reinstating the two-child limit will put families in great difficulty. The Child Poverty Strategy makes clear that it is the most effective policy to reduce child poverty.”
“These recommendations [Reform and the Conservatives] Reintroducing this restriction, or retaining it in any conditional form, would be a major step backwards, putting hundreds of thousands of children back into enormous hardship. Children should not be punished because of their family circumstances, especially during difficult times when many people are juggling unstable work, caring responsibilities, poor health or disability. “