Bishop joins calls for two- child benefit limit to be scrapped

A committee of MPs has warned the limit has unintended consequences no government should be willing to accept.

The Work and Pensions Select Committee said the Government’s justifications for the policy were based on assumptions that “simply do not hold true” and a “crude and unrealistic” distinction.

The committee published its final report of the current Parliament on Sunday, which concluded the Government must lift the two-child limit and return to providing support for all children through the benefits system.

The report said the limit will leave families having to stretch “frozen and capped” incomes to breaking point and children could bear the brunt of its impact.

It added: “The Government argues that the two-child limit will not increase child poverty because it will encourage families to increase their incomes from work.

“That may be possible for some. But for many, especially lone parents, the difficulty of accessing affordable childcare means that working more hours simply isn’t an option.

“Those families are left with no choice but to make their already frozen and capped incomes stretch ever further – sometimes to breaking point.

“All too often it will be children themselves who bear the impact.”

The report also said the Government had not provided any evidence to dispute experts forecasting that the policy will “significantly increase” child poverty.

It said…