We believe that the Labour Government should abolish both the 2-child-limit and the benefit cap with immediate effect as part of a broader commitment to addressing child poverty and investing in children and families.

We call on Haringey’s MPs to use all methods at their disposal to press the Government to reverse this punitive and counter-productive measure introduced by the Conservatives as part of their austerity programme.

We invite you, as our representatives in Parliament, to explain what you have been able to do to bring these iniquitous policies to an end.

As you know, the current imposition of both the two-child benefit limit and the benefit cap severely restrict access for larger families to in and out-of-work benefits. The overall benefit cap places a cap on the amount a household can receive in benefits. It imposes an arbitrary limit on the income a household can receive in social security (regardless of family size and need), so many families do not receive their full entitlement. The two-child cap restricts targeted support to the first two children in a household, affecting new births from April 2017. Research in 2023 by the Child Poverty Action Group showed that over one in four families who were benefit capped were also subject to the two-child limit.

New data published by the DWP on the two-child limit to benefit payments shows there are now 1.6 million children living in families impacted by this policy, one child in every nine; 59% are in working households. Alison Garnham, Chief Executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, says “They are the single most poverty producing policies in the social security system and look set to continue pushing up child poverty until they are finally abolished.”

Families lose up to £3,500 a year per child because of the two-child cap. These are families already struggling with low wages, inadequate support and rising prices.

81% of families affected by the two-child cap have at least one adult working. 20% are families with at least one disabled child. 25% are single-parent households.

These benefit caps are cruel and punitive, inflicting not only material deprivation but also emotional harm on the children affected. The two-child cap has failed in its own terms as it has had minimal impact on the birth rate and no impact on the employment rate or hours worked.

Removing the policy would lift 300,000 children out of poverty in the country and reduce the depth of poverty of a further 800,000 children. It would cost £1.8 billion.

In Haringey over 5,000 households have 3 or more dependant children. That means that there are approximately at least 1,000 children in the borough affected by the two-child benefit cap. A loss of £3.5m a year to the poorest families locally.

Child poverty has a substantial impact on future health, employment, education and other social outcomes. The cost of this impact is estimated by the Child Poverty Action Group to be £39bn, far outstripping the cost of removing the cap.

We note that the Labour Party manifesto pledged to develop an ambitious strategy to reduce child poverty and that the government has subsequently reiterated this commitment. It is now absolutely clear that there is no other single thing apart from the removal of this policy that could be done that would make so much difference to children's lives.

We look forward to hearing your response.