Exclusive: Poverty Strategy Commission says abolishing cap will tackle hardship and lift families out of ‘deep poverty’
A cross-party commission including former welfare ministers is urging the government to scrap the two-child benefit limit as part of an ambitious “once in a generation” plan to lift millions of people out of poverty.
The Poverty Strategy Commission said billions of pounds of investment – including a boost to the rate of universal credit – was needed to reverse record levels of poverty in the UK, and tackle longstanding failures over rising hardship and destitution.
The commission report represents a challenge to the government as it prepares to announce its own child poverty reduction strategy, amid concerns Treasury-imposed constraints will water down any changes that push up benefit spending.
The commission said its wide-ranging proposals would lift 4.2 million people out of poverty, including 2.2 million people stranded in “deep poverty” – defined as household income at least 50% below the official poverty line and equivalent to £11,013 a year for a single parent with two children.
