Thousands of Mansfield and Ashfield children affected by two-child benefits limit

The two-child limit restricts child allowances in universal credit and tax credits – worth £2,935 per year – to the first two children in a family, unless the children were born before April 6, 2017, when the policy came into force.

The Child Poverty Action Group is calling for the policy, which it says pushes families into poverty, to be scrapped.

Department for Work and Pensions figures show 920 households with three or more children in Ashfield and 830 in Mansfield were receiving Universal Credit in April, with 780 and 630 respectively receiving Child Tax Credits – 3,160 in total.

CPAG estimate this means there are 5,357 children in families affected by the policy, among 1.2 million across Great Britain.

It says the two-child limit is one of the biggest drivers of rising child poverty and its impact will intensify as living costs surge.

Alison Garnham, CPAG chief executive, said the £650 cost-of-living emergency payment is not enough to stop the policy pushing families deeper into poverty.

She said: “The two-child limit is piling on the pain for affected families.

“One in 12 children are taking the consequences of this brutal policy – their health, development and well-being are being jeopardised.

“If every child matters, the policy must be abolished.”

The DWP figures reveal the policy affects 360,000 families nationwide – 59 per cent of which are working households.

CPAG estimates about one in 10 children in Mansfield and Ashfield are impacted by the cut-off, above the UK average of one in 12.

Kate Andersen, from the Benefit Changes and Larger Families project, said the limit causes ‘serious and significant harm’ to all affected young people.

She said: “While parents do all they can to stop children from being impacted by the two-child limit, the policy makes it almost impossible for affected families to meet basic needs.

“The policy creates social and emotion harms. We know these harms are likely to have long-term negative consequences for children's physical health, social, behavioural and emotional development, cognitive development and school achievement.”

A DWP spokesman said: “This policy means families on benefits are asked to make the same financial decisions as families supporting themselves solely through work.”