Government delays child poverty strategy amid two-child benefit cap rethink

24 May 2025, 08:16 | Updated: 24 May 2025, 14:57

Ministers have delayed a flagship plan aimed at driving down child poverty until the autumn.

The child poverty strategy, originally due to be published this spring, was expected to include a recommendation to scrap the two-child benefit cap.

But the plan has now reportedly been pushed back until the autumn in order to align it with the next budget.

Worries about the cost of the project and its political benefit are said to be key concerns for figures at the heart of the Government, according to the Guardian newspaper which first reported the story.

It comes as reports suggest Prime Minister Keir Starmer is considering rethinking or altogether scrapping the two-child benefit cap.

The two-child benefit cap was introduced when the Conservatives were in power, and restricts parents from claiming certain benefits for more than two of their children.

Its critics say scrapping the cap would be the most effective way of reducing child poverty across the UK.

Read more: UN chief accuses Israel of only allowing a 'teaspoon' of aid into Gaza following 11-week blockade

Read more: Three-child benefit cap would 'risk leaving hundreds of thousands of children still in poverty'

According to the Guardian, experts have warned some 100 children are pulled into poverty every day by the limit, meaning up to 20,000 could be impacted by a six-month delay.

Some within Government are concerned that delaying any action on the cap beyond the autumn will mean the impact of scrapping it would not be felt before the next general election, the newspaper said.

Labour backbenchers have been urging ministers to scrap the cap over recent months, amid a brewing rebellion against wider welfare reforms.

Sir Michael Marmot on why the UK is facing a child poverty crisis

When asked about whether the Government is considering scrapping the cap, the Prime Minister's official spokesman has not ruled it out, but insisted there is no single "silver bullet" to tackling child poverty.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, he said the strategy would be "published later this year", but emphasised the Government was taking a "comprehensive approach" to child poverty, including rolling out free breakfast clubs, increasing the number of affordable homes, and making moves to drive down household bills.

Former Labour communications chief Alastair Campbell told LBC News the delay isn't a problem as long as the government is focused on getting the policy right.

"The event I was at, there was a woman called Bex Wilson, a deputy head teacher, and she started a charity whose goal is to get beds to children, because one of her children came to school and said 'I'm tired because I don't have a bed'," he told LBC News' David Harper.

"She dug into it, and discovered that there were a lot of children who don't have a bed to sleep in.

"Now I don’t think it’s a problem that this has been delayed if that is because they are absolutely deciding this is a priority, they're going to get it right and it's possibly related to the spending review which is which is coming up.

"I think there is within the UK and I do, I'm afraid, sorry for being very party-political, but I do think a decade of the conservative government not caring about child poverty has got a lot to answer for."

Lord John Bird, an anti-poverty campaigner and founder of the Big Issue, criticised news of the delay and said the Government had "just kicked the issue of child poverty into the long grass".

He added: "The impact of their inaction will be grave. It is shameful that child poverty is forecast to not fall, but rise significantly, to 31.5% of children under this Labour government.

"We need action now, not in six months or a year's time. I will relentlessly pursue my intervention of adding child poverty targets to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill with the vigour that the 4.3 million children living in poverty in our country deserve."

Earlier this week, a coalition of charities told LBC that changing the two-child cap to include three children would risk leaving hundreds of thousands of children still in poverty.

Save the Children, the End Child Poverty Coalition, and the Child Poverty Action Group joined forces to warn ministers against the move, saying it would be a "half measure" and "tinkering around the edges".

Meanwhile, Dan Paskins, executive director of policy, advocacy and campaigns at Save the Children UK, said: "Every month that goes by while Keir Starmer does not scrap the cruel two-child limit means thousands of children are plunged into poverty.

"We would like to see assurance from Number 10 that this delay means their child poverty strategy contains bold ideas backed with the finance - starting with scrapping the two-child limit and benefit cap."

Elsewhere, Helen Barnard, director of policy, research and impact at the Trussell Trust, suggested delaying the strategy could benefit the people it is designed to help.

Writing on social media site X, she said "better a delayed child poverty strategy with measures to really protect children from hunger and hardship" than "one hitting the deadline but falling short on substance".