Thousands of Luton and Dunstable children in families hit by two-child limit

The two-child limit excludes most households with a third or subsequent child born on or after 6 April 2017 from claiming Universal Credit.

It was also used to restrict Child Tax Credit benefits, which closed in April.

Charities have warned the policy is pulling increasing numbers of children and families into poverty, and urged the Government to scrap it as part of its upcoming child poverty strategy, due in the autumn.

It comes after the Scottish Government announced in June it will effectively end the two-child cap from March 2026.

Figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show some 5,360 children in Luton North were living in 1,480 households affected by the two-child limit in April.

Using the latest census figures, it means around 37 per 1,000 households in the constituency were impacted by the policy.

In Luton South and South Bedfordshire, that figure was 5,660 children in 1,610 households – round 36 per 1,000 households.

While in Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard, it was 2,540 children in 720 households affected – around 16 per 1,000 households.

The average rate across England and Wales is 18 per 1,000.

Most figures are rounded to the nearest 10, and low numbers may have been suppressed in accordance with disclosure rules.

Across Great Britain, nearly 1.7 million children were living in some 470,000 households affected by the two-child limit in April.

It was up from around 1.4 million children in nearly 386,000 households the year before.

Child Poverty Action Group chief executive Alison Garnham said the two-child limit pushes children into poverty, "cutting them off from opportunity".

She warned: "The policy forces families to live on less than they need – both those with jobs and those who can’t currently work because of very young children – and abandons them to hardship.

"The PM has promised to leave no stone unturned to give every child the best start in life, but until the policy goes child poverty will continue to rise and Government’s ambitions for children will not be realised.

"Government must remove the policy in its autumn child poverty strategy or risk having more children in poverty at the end of its first term than when it took office."

Across Great Britain, more than half (59%) of households affected by the policy were in work in April, with at least one claimant in the household earning.

In Luton North, 1,050 (71%) of the affected households were in work. In Luton South and South Beds it was 1,100 (68%) and in Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard, 420 (58%).

Julia Pitman, head of policy and research at Action for Children, said "the relentless impact of the two-child limit continues to grow", as more children are now "suffering its consequences".

She added many children are living in households affected by both the two-child limit and the overall benefit cap, which she warned is "pushing these families even deeper into poverty and trapping them there".

Ahead of the upcoming child poverty strategy, she called on the Government to abandon both policies.

Around 38,200 (8%) of households hit by the two-child limit policy in Great Britain were also affected by the benefit cap in April, with 141,290 children living in these households.

This included 500 children living in 140 households in Luton North, 570 children in 160 households in Luton South and South Bedfordshire, and 270 children in 80 households in Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard.

A Government spokesperson said it would reform the "broken social security system" to help those who can work into well-paid jobs.

They added: "We are also rolling out a national network of life-changing family hubs for children across the country as well as expanding free school meals and supporting 700,000 of the poorest families by introducing a Fair Repayment Rate on Universal Credit deductions."