Tue Nov 25| Policy & Public Affairs Blog

It’s Time to Finally End Child Poverty for Good

Why Scrapping the Cap is a Chance to End Child Poverty for Good

This week, the Chancellor will set out the UK Government’s Autumn Budget, and with signals that they may scrap the two-child limit, includem has one clear message for them: this is the right decision – and it cannot come soon enough.

For years, the two-child limit has punished families for circumstances beyond their control. It has pushed thousands of children into poverty[1]. Ending this policy would be a turning point for families across Scotland and the UK.

But let us be clear: this must be a complete scrap of the benefit cap.

We will not accept any modification such as introducing a three[2] or four-child limit as has previously been rumoured.

Enough is enough.

Scrapping the cap entirely is the only fair and effective choice.

Why This Matters for Families We Support

At includem, we work alongside children, young people, and families across Scotland, providing practical and emotional support to help them overcome crisis and build brighter futures. Our approach is built around supporting the whole family — because we know that a child’s wellbeing cannot be separated from the stability and security of their home, and that of the adults they live with.

Through our Transforming Lives campaign, we have called for long-term investment in prevention and early intervention. But policy decisions like the two-child limit make that goal harder to achieve every day.

Our recent Beyond the Budget report highlights the scale of poverty among the families we support. While national statistics show that one in four children in Scotland live in poverty, for includem’s families, that figure is not one in four — it’s three in four.

Highlights from our Beyond the Budget report:

69% of the families who took part in our survey struggled to pay for food.
76% struggled to pay their energy bills.
64% told us that in the past year, their household finances had worsened.

You can read our full report here.

That means the vast majority of the children and young people we work with are growing up in households where parents are making impossible choices: heating or eating, bus fares or school shoes.

The Evidence is Clear

The idea that restricting benefits encourages work or personal responsibility is not borne out by evidence.

Research consistently shows that families affected by the two-child limit are just as likely to be in work as those who aren’t.[3] What the policy really does is push children into poverty — storing up social and economic costs for the future.

At includem, we see the impact of the limit every day.

Financial stress creeps into every corner of family life: parent/carer’s mental health suffers, relationships become strained, and children and young people’s opportunities shrink.

The cost of crisis — in mental health services, social care, and lost potential — far outweighs any short-term savings to the Treasury.

A Moment for Compassion and Common Sense

Scrapping the cap is not just compassionate – it’s common sense.

It would lift a major barrier to stability for families already under pressure and show that the government is serious about ending the scourge of child poverty, not just managing it.

As we approach the Autumn Budget, the Chancellor has an opportunity to make history: to choose fairness over false economies, and to invest in children’s futures.

Poverty is not inevitable – it is the result of policy decisions. Let’s make the right one.

“Every day, we see parents and carers doing everything they can to give their children the best start in life — but policies like the two-child limit hold them back.

“Scrapping the cap would be a turning point for families across Scotland and the UK.

“We at includem strongly urge the Chancellor to finally scrap the cap.”

— Martyn Walker, Communications & Public Affairs Manager, includem