Salford MP Rebecca Long-Bailey has joined cross-party MPs in signing a parliamentary motion urging Chancellor Rachel Reeves to scrap the two-child benefit limit in this month’s Autumn Budget.
Long-Bailey announced her support on Wednesday (12 November), saying on X the policy is “cruel” and that removing it would “lift 670,000 people, including 470,000 children, out of severe hardship.”
The call comes days after the Chancellor told the BBC she did not believe children should be “penalised” because they were part of larger families, signalling for the first time that she may consider removing the limit. Introduced by the Conservatives in 2017, the policy restricts child-related benefits to a family’s first two children.
The early day motion Long-Bailey signed argues that the limit has had a “detrimental impact” on child poverty across the UK and that scrapping it represents the “most cost-effective measure” to reduce hardship, estimating that removal would deliver benefits worth £3.1bn by 2026–27.
Long-Bailey was among seven Labour MPs to support a bid by the SNP to scrap the two-child benefit cap in the Commons back in September.
The bill, brought forward by Scottish National Party MP Kirsty Blackman, passed at first reading by 10 votes, with 89 MPs voting for and 79 voting against.
In July 2024, Long-Bailey was one of seven Labour MPs to have the whip suspended for six months after she voted against the government on an amendment to scrap the two-child benefit cap.
Salford is one of the areas hit hardest by the limit. According to the End Child Poverty Coalition and Resolve Poverty, 26.4% of children in the city are affected, the highest proportion in the North West. Their report also found that 45% of all children in Salford are living in poverty, and that ending the limit would bring the biggest economic benefit to any North West constituency, estimated at £10.1 million.
One Salford resident said “it should’ve never been introduced in the first place”, but admitted he’s feeling positive about the possible change, “it’s about time Labour did something for the working class”.
Petra Hughes, another local resident, stressed its importance saying “it affects millions of children” and that those “children shouldn’t be punished for their parents decisions, or non-decisions”.
Greater Manchester Poverty Action said the new figures highlight the scale of hardship created by the policy in the region.
Its chief executive, Graham Whitham, said the two-child limit is “having an extremely damaging effect in the North West,” with “208,680 babies and children… directly impacted by this policy”. “It’s not right that children with two or more siblings are more likely to be growing up in poverty,” he said, adding that abolishing the limit “would immediately lift 250,000 children out of poverty across the country.”
Joseph Howes, Chair of the End Child Poverty Coalition and CEO of Buttle UK, said the policy denies families essential support.
“Imagine saying to a child who turned up at school – sorry you can’t gain access… only your two older siblings qualify,” he said. “Yet this is exactly what the unfair two-child limit… does.”
He added that for many families the Christmas period is “anything but joyful,” with parents instead “worry[ing] about heating their homes, and providing even basic food.”
“If political parties seriously want to tackle child poverty,” he said, “they need to start by scrapping the two-child limit.”
Salford families and support organisations will now be waiting for the Budget on 26th November, when it will become clear whether the Chancellor intends to scrap the policy.
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