DWP update: Labour and Tories under fire over Universal Credit benefit cap as 'children drowning in poverty'
The main political parties are under fire over the "two-child" benefit cap
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The Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) "two-child" benefit cap on Universal Credit payments should be "abolished without delay", according to activists.
Both the Conservative Party and Labour are being urged to review their current stance on the policy which sees households restricted in the amount of benefit support they receive from the state.
Campaigners are lobbying the main political parties to axe the controversial DWP policy as "children are drowning in poverty".
Earlier this week, the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) warned that 670,000 children could be plunged into poverty if the cap is not scrapped by the end of the next Parliament.
Families are forecast to lose out on £3,455 annually a year due to this policy with the Tories and Labour failing to mention scrapping in their respective election manifestos.
Multiple charities and organisations have joined the End Child Poverty coalition to push any future Government to prevent this predication from coming reality.
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Keir Starmer previously supported scrapping the restriction
GB NewsClaire Atchia McMaster, the director of Income and External Affairs at charity Turn2Us, warned that the cap on Universal Credit is "stripping children across the UK of their potential" and needs to be reviwed.
She explained: "The stark reality is laid bare by new research for the End Child Poverty Coalition: two-thirds of constituencies see at least a quarter of their children drowning in poverty, a situation exacerbated by the current two-child limit and benefit cap, revealed through new research from Loughborough University.
“Turn2us, as part of the Coalition, calls upon all political parties to abolish the two-child limit without delay.
"Beyond the staggering economic toll of child poverty - over £39 billion each year - every day, children's dreams are crushed under the weight of poverty."
"“The social security system must be grounded in compassion and informed by the real experiences of those it aims to support.
"The upcoming General Election presents a pivotal moment for change to offer genuine, robust support for our struggling families and enable children across the UK to thrive.”
Both the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party have promised to axe the cap on DWP benefit payments.
Previously, Sir Keir Starmer voiced his opposition to the policy but has since refused to commit to ending it ahead of next month's election.
Introduced in 2017, the policy restricts Universal Credit and child tax credit payments to the first two children in a household.
A Government spokesperson said: “There are 1.1 million fewer people living in absolute poverty compared to 2010, including 100,000 children and our £108bn cost of living support package prevented 1.3 million people falling into poverty in 2022/23.
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Sunak has ruled out scrapping the benefit cap and promised a tougher clampdown on people taking advantage of the social security system
PA“Children are five times less likely to experience poverty if they are living in a household where all adults work compared to those in workless households.
“That is why we have reduced the number of children living in workless households by almost 700,000 and are rewarding hard work by raising the National Living Wage and cutting taxes, while our Back to Work Plan with expanded childcare support for parents will help over a million people to find, stay and succeed in work.”
A Labour spokesperson told GB News: “The number of children growing up in poverty in our country is a damning indicting of the last 14 years of the Tories.
“The last Labour government lifted more than half a million children out of poverty and we are determined to build on this record, which is why we’ve committed to an ambitious new cross government strategy to tackle child poverty.
“We are under no illusions about the scale of the task ahead if we win the election. Labour has already set out how we would make a start, with free breakfast clubs in every primary school, cutting fuel poverty and bringing down energy bills, banning exploitative zero hours contracts, making work pay, ending no fault evictions and creating more good jobs right across the country.”