Universal Credit - mitigation of the two-child limit: consultation - easy read

The two-child cap in Universal Credit

Universal Credit is a UK benefit for working people with low incomes. It is also for people who don’t work because of sickness or disability.

Universal Credit started being rolled out in 2013. It has been available across the UK since December 2018.

Universal Credit has a ‘Child Element’. This is a payment people get for children they look after.

The UK Government’s rules mean that the Child Element is only paid for the first two children in a family.

The Child Element will not be paid for the next child in a family if they were born after 6 April 2017 and there are already two children.

This is known as the two-child cap. There are rules that let the Child Element be paid for other children sometimes.

The rules say that the Child Element can only be paid for any other children in a family when:

• a child is part of a multiple birth. This can mean when twins are born.

• a child is being looked after by someone who isn’t their parent.

• a child was born after a pregnancy that was not agreed to. This is often called the ‘rape clause’.

In April 2024, DWP information said that 1.6 million children in the UK don’t get the Child Element because of the two-child cap.

This has gone up since 2018, as more children have been born into families that already have two children.

In Scotland, the Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC) thinks around 32,000 children in April 2024 missed out on the Child Element.

The Scottish Government thinks a change needs to be made as soon as possible because so many children are affected.