Scotland is right to scrap the cruel two-child benefit cap. It's now time for Labour to act

The fate of children in poverty within the UK is increasingly shaped by where in the country they live. And the gaps in provision are about to get even bigger after the Scottish government’s announcement that it plans to scrap the two-child limit on benefits for Scottish families. 

This is big news, and is part of the Scottish government’s wider commitment to tackling child poverty.  On taking office as first minister earlier this year, John Swinney declared that his number one mission is to ‘eradicate child poverty in Scotland‘.

The decision to ‘scrap the cap’ for Scottish families will be a central part of this pledge. Announcing the decision in Wednesday’s Scottish government budget, the cabinet secretary Shona Robinson set out that: “The two-child benefit cap is a pernicious part of the UK welfare system, it has caused misery for children and families in Scotland.”

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She is absolutely right. The two-child cap on benefits is a poverty-producing and cruel policy, which simply has no place in a social security system worthy of its name. The Child Poverty Action Group estimates that 109 more children are born every day into households affected – with its reach increasing day in, and day out. 

Labour have been too slow to act here. They have faced rebellions from the left of the party and the charge that they simply are not willing to act to protect the nation’s most vulnerable families. They must act soon to do the right thing; investing the funds required to repeal a policy that punishes children simply by dint of the number of sisters and brothers they have. 

The Scottish government do not have the powers to repeal the policy itself – which is reserved to Westminster – but they can mitigate it, which means finding ways to top up the money lost by the two-child limit so no Scottish family is materially worse off. They have pledged to start this mitigation from 2026. Let’s just hope that Labour acts before then, so that no child is harmed by the policy wherever in the UK they happen to live. 

What is also important, though, is to recognise the growing influence of devolution in shaping people’s experiences of and entitlement to social security. My colleague Kitty Stewart estimates that families with three children could be up to £7,000 a year better off in Scotland, compared to their English counterparts from 2026.

This is a result not only of this week’s announcement, but of other decisions the Scottish government have made. Their flagship Scottish child payment provides £26 per child per week to support families on a low-income; and shows a vital recognition of the difference cash transfers can make to children’s childhoods and future lives. 

In the coming months, the UK government will publish the first child poverty strategy in over seven years. In this strategy, we need to see the decisive commitment to act on child poverty witnessed in this week’s Scottish government budget. And we also need to see a readiness to learn from the devolved and regional administrations – who have sometimes shown a readiness to act on child poverty, and to invest support in children as part of a wider effort to make a real difference to the lives of children in poverty.

The difference this makes could last whole lifetimes. All children deserve and need the best start in lives. The Scottish government’s decision this week shows a recognition of this. it is a recognition that politicians across the political spectrum and across the country should unite around. I dearly hope they do just that.

Ruth Patrick is a professor of social policy at the University of York and a researcher who leads the Changing Realities programme.

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