Social cohesion, poverty & inequalityUnited Kingdom

In forceApplies to Universal Credit assessment periods starting on or after 6 April 2026, in Great Britain and Northern Ireland; applied automatically to existing claims.

Abolition of the two-child limit in Universal Credit (2026)

Since April 2017, the child element of Universal Credit (and of Child Tax Credit until it closed in 2025) was paid for at most two children, with exceptions. Announced in the Budget of 26 November 2025, the Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Act 2026 abolishes this limit for assessment periods starting on or after 6 April 2026. In April 2026, 478,120 households with 1.7 million children were not receiving the element for at least one child. The OBR puts the cost at £3.0bn in 2029-30; the government expects 450,000 fewer children in relative poverty in 2029-30.

Updated: November 5, 2026

At a glance

Reference text

Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Act 2026[1]

No. 2026 c. 13 · March 18, 2026

Read the text ↗

Carried by

  • Rachel Reeves[8]Chancellor of the Exchequer — announcement in the Budget of 26 November 2025 · 2025 · Initiator
  • Pat McFadden[13]Secretary of State for Work and Pensions · 2026 · Implementation
  • Dame Diana Johnson[12][13]Minister for Employment, Department for Work and Pensions · 2026 · Implementation

Implementation

Status

In force

since April 6, 2026[1][13]

Applies to Universal Credit assessment periods starting on or after 6 April 2026, in Great Britain and Northern Ireland; applied automatically to existing claims.

Stated objective

Reduce child poverty: according to the government, removing the limit is the quickest and most cost-effective way to cut child poverty over this Parliament and should lift 450,000 children out of relative low income (after housing costs) in the final year of the Parliament (2029-30), around 550,000 with the strategy’s other measures.[7][11][10]

according to the UK government (Budget 2025, Child Poverty Strategy)

  • Fewer children in relative low income (after housing costs)

    450,000

    2029-30 · according to the DWP (static microsimulation, consistent with the OBR’s November 2025 forecast)[10][7]

    UK-wide estimate, compared with a baseline keeping the limit; does not capture behavioural effects.

Main measures

  • Repeals section 10(1A) of the Welfare Reform Act 2012: the Universal Credit child element is again paid for every child, from assessment periods starting on or after 6 April 2026.[1][2]
  • Ends the exceptions regime (multiple births, adoption, non-parental care, non-consensual conception) and the ordering of children by birth date, which became unnecessary.[1][2][11]
  • Makes the same change in Northern Ireland (section 2), where social security is transferred, and removes the two-child rules from Housing Benefit by regulations.[1][3]
  • Keeps the higher child element rate only for a first child born before 6 April 2017; the 2025-26 rate was £292.81 per month for most children.[2]
  • Cost estimated by the OBR at £2.3bn in 2026-27 and £3.0bn in 2029-30 (Great Britain), including £0.3bn for some 25,000 extra families expected to claim; the government says it is funded by other Budget measures (Motability tax reliefs, fraud and error).[9][7]

In data

Households affected by the two-child limit, each April[15][14]

April 2018 – April 2026

Households affected by the two-child limit, each April — chart values
MonthAffected households (third or later child born on or after 6 April 2017)Households not receiving the element for at least one child
April 201872,03071,320
April 2019162,090157,540
April 2020250,590243,200
April 2021317,360307,700
April 2022372,180360,490
April 2023423,840409,930
April 2024458,430442,690
April 2025480,290463,030
April 2026495,990478,120

Scale starts at 0 · Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit households, Great Britain (Universal Credit only from April 2025). April 2026 = last full month in which the limit applied.

Projected effect of the removal: fewer children in relative low income (after housing costs)[10]

2026-27 to 2030-31 (projection)

Projected effect of the removal: fewer children in relative low income (after housing costs) — chart values
Financial yearChildren lifted out of relative low income vs. baseline
2026-27300,000
2027-28350,000
2028-29450,000
2029-30450,000
2030-31450,000

Scale starts at 0 · DWP projection (Policy Simulation Model), United Kingdom, rounded to the nearest 50,000; not a forecast of total child poverty.

Key figures

Households not receiving the child element for at least one child

478,120

April 2026 · Observed

DWP official statistics, Universal Credit, Great Britain[14]

1,695,400 children lived in these households; 436,780 of these households were expected to see their award rise after the removal.

Children in relative poverty because of the limit

300,000

2025-26 · Estimate

according to the DWP (relative low income after housing costs)[10]

About 100 children a day since April 2017, according to the DWP.

Families gaining from the removal

560,000

2029-30 · Projection

according to the OBR (Great Britain)[9]

Average gain of £5,310 a year per family; total cost £3.0bn in 2029-30.

Children in relative low income after housing costs (UK)

27%

2024-25 · Observed

DWP, Households Below Average Income, as reported in the Child Poverty Strategy baseline report[16]

4.0 million children, before the removal took effect: the baseline against which the strategy will be assessed.

Timeline

  1. Summer Budget 2015 announces the two-child limit[6]

    Support through tax credits is to be limited to two children for children born after April 2017, and the same rule applied to new Universal Credit claims; multiple births to be protected.

  2. Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 enacts the limit[4][5]

    Sections 13 (Child Tax Credit) and 14 (Universal Credit, new section 10(1A) of the Welfare Reform Act 2012) restrict the child element to two children.

  3. Two-child limit takes effect[2][14]

    The child element is now paid for at most two children, except for children born before 6 April 2017 or covered by an exception (multiple birth, adoption, non-parental care, non-consensual conception).

  4. Child Tax Credit closes: the limit now only applies to Universal Credit[14]

  5. Announced

    Removal announced in the Budget 2025[7][8]

  6. Child Poverty Strategy published[11]

    The strategy makes the removal of the limit its first measure and announces the end of the exceptions regime, including the non-consensual conception exception.

  7. Under debate

    Bill introduced in the House of Commons[2]

  8. Second reading in the House of Commons[2][12]

  9. Commons: committee of the whole House and remaining stages[2]

  10. House of Lords: second reading and remaining stages[2]

  11. Adopted

    Royal Assent: Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Act 2026[1][2]

  12. Consequential regulations made (S.I. 2026/316)[3]

    Removes the two-child rules from Housing Benefit and the related transitional provisions, in force on 6 April 2026.

  13. In force

    Sections 1 and 2 in force: limit removed[1][13]

    Applies to Universal Credit assessment periods starting on or after 6 April 2026, in Great Britain and Northern Ireland; applied automatically to existing claims.

  14. Final DWP statistics on the limit (April 2026)[14]

    Last release of the series: it describes the last full month in which the limit applied.

  15. Child Poverty Strategy baseline monitoring report[16]

The debate

Citoyen takes no position: arguments are reported as their authors put them.

According to its supporters

  • The government argues that the limit has been the biggest single driver of child poverty and that removing it is the quickest and most cost-effective way to reduce it over this Parliament: 450,000 fewer children in relative poverty by 2029-30, according to the DWP.[7][13][10]
  • According to the Child Poverty Strategy, almost six in ten affected households are in work and many had their children long before claiming Universal Credit: the limit hit working families facing hard times, not only out-of-work ones.[11]
  • The government also points to the end of the exceptions regime: no mother will again be asked to prove that her child was conceived through rape or coercion to receive support.[11]
  • Child-focused charities quoted by the DWP (UNICEF UK, Save the Children UK, Child Poverty Action Group, Gingerbread, The Children’s Society) welcomed the abolition; for UNICEF UK it is « one of the most powerful actions » the UK can take to lift children out of poverty.[13]

According to its opponents

  • The rationale of the 2015 Conservative government (Summer Budget, George Osborne) was fairness: families receiving tax credits should face the same financial choices about having children as those supporting themselves solely through work.[6]
  • The limit was introduced as a saving to make tax credits « more affordable » (£1.4bn a year expected by 2020-21 in 2015). Its removal costs £3.0bn in 2029-30 according to the OBR, at a time when, the OBR notes, the Budget brings the tax take to an all-time high of 38% of GDP in 2030-31.[6][9]
  • The OBR expects the more generous award to draw some 25,000 additional entitled families into claiming Universal Credit, adding £0.3bn to the cost in 2029-30.[9]

Indicators to watch

  • Children in relative low income after housing costs (Child Poverty Strategy headline metric) · DWP — Households Below Average Incomeno Citoyen card yet
  • Children in deep material poverty · DWPno Citoyen card yet
  • Child poverty rate · Eurostat / OCDEno Citoyen card yet
  • Universal Credit households with three or more children · DWP — Stat-Xploreno Citoyen card yet

Sources

  1. [1]Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Act 2026 (2026 c. 13) — legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives), March 18, 2026
  2. [2]Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Act 2026 — Explanatory Notes (c. 13-EN), incl. Annex B (Hansard references) — Department for Work and Pensions / legislation.gov.uk, March 2026
  3. [3]The Social Security (Removal of Two Child Limit) (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2026 (S.I. 2026/316) — legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives), March 19, 2026
  4. [4]Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 (2016 c. 7), section 14 — Changes to child element of universal credit (as enacted) — legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives), March 16, 2016
  5. [5]Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 — Explanatory Notes — legislation.gov.uk (The National Archives), 2016
  6. [6]Summer Budget 2015 (HC 264) — HM Treasury, July 8, 2015
  7. [7]Budget 2025 — Strong foundations, secure future (HC 1492) — HM Treasury, November 26, 2025
  8. [8]Budget 2025 speech, as delivered by Chancellor Rachel Reeves — HM Treasury, November 26, 2025
  9. [9]Economic and fiscal outlook — November 2025 (CP 1439), §3.19-3.20 and Table 3.2 — Office for Budget Responsibility, November 2025
  10. [10]Removing the two-child limit on Universal Credit: Impact on low income poverty levels in the United Kingdom — Department for Work and Pensions, November 26, 2025
  11. [11]Our Children, Our Future: Tackling Child Poverty (Child Poverty Strategy) — Cabinet Office, December 5, 2025
  12. [12]£1 billion resilience fund and next step towards removal of two-child limit provide safety net for families — Department for Work and Pensions, February 3, 2026
  13. [13]Two-child limit scrapped as historic Bill to lift 450,000 children out of poverty becomes law — Department for Work and Pensions, March 19, 2026
  14. [14]Universal Credit claimants statistics on the two child limit policy, April 2026 (Official Statistics, final release) — Department for Work and Pensions, July 8, 2026
  15. [15]Data tables: Universal Credit claimants statistics on the two child limit policy, April 2026 (Table 15: totals by year, April 2018 to April 2026) — Department for Work and Pensions, July 8, 2026
  16. [16]Our Children, Our Future: Tackling Child Poverty — Monitoring and Evaluation baseline report — Department for Work and Pensions, July 9, 2026