Government policy punishing families must end now
Fiona Cole, policy manager at Trussell in Northern Ireland says the cruel two-child limit policy is punishing families and must be scrapped.
Families have faced unprecedented challenges over the last five years – from the cost of living crisis to the pandemic. But for families in Northern Ireland with more than two children these have been magnified by the impact of the cruel two-child limit on social security.
The two-child limit, which restricts support from the social security system to two children, even when their parents can’t work, is punishing children for their existence and pushing families to food banks. We cannot stand by while this continues to happen.
This policy is the single biggest driver of child poverty, pushing millions of families into poverty, blighting childhoods and holding children back from having a good start in life.
Every week, food banks meet parents who’ve been doing everything they can to protect their children from hunger. Skipping meals for weeks so there’s enough for the kids to eat, making games out of wrapping up in blankets to avoid turning on the heating, trying to pretend everything’s okay – but it’s not okay.
To end it is morally the right thing to do – no child should know what a food bank is, let alone need one. Families with babies, and children as young as 2 or 3, being pushed to food banks should weigh heavily on our society’s conscience.
Families with children cannot afford any further delays, and as a society we cannot keep pushing the next generation towards food banks before they’re even old enough for school.
Scrapping this harmful policy in full, as soon as possible, is good for us all – it would ease pressure on public services and benefit our economy by over £3 billion and lift 670,000 people out of severe hardship, including 470,000 children, by 2026-27.In Northern Ireland, there are currently 48,300 children being directly affected by the two child limit.Scrapping the two-child limit would bring benefits of around £155 million, and lift 18,500 people out of severe hardship, by 2026/27.
There is no time to lose.
Removing the two-child limit in the autumn budget is the most effective way to protect children from hunger, give them a decent start in life, and help them reach their potential.
There is no time to waste in a child’s life. Each day that a child spends living in poverty is a day where their potential is stunted where it shouldn’t be.
It is the government’s duty to act on their commitment to tackling child poverty, a promise they made to all of us on the election trail. We expect them to keep this promise.
The most immediate and impactful way they can do this is to fully remove the two-child limit now – so if you believe that all children should have the opportunity to live their childhood free of poverty, then email your MP today.