Rachel Reeves scraps two-child benefit cap in Budget

Rachel Reeves has laid out her Budget (Image: Getty Images/Wavebreak Media)

Rachel Reeves has decided to axe the two-child benefit cap, which currently impacts over 1.5 million children in the UK. The cap was implemented by the previous Conservative government and restricts most families from claiming Universal Credit for any third or subsequent children born after April 2017.

The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) estimates that scrapping the cap could lift approximately 350,000 children out of poverty and decrease the level of poverty for an additional 800,000 children. The two-child benefit cap is being removed at an estimated cost of £3 billion by 2029-30, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves had previously suggested that the limit would be ab