Rachel Reeves has been praised for ‘providing real hope for families across the country’
The lifting of the two-child benefit limit will be felt by more than 260,000 children in London, as charities welcome Rachel Reeves’ move to scrap the cap. The two-child benefit limit prevents parents from claiming Child Tax Credit or Universal Credit for more than two children, and was introduced by the Conservative Government in 2017.
Announcing the move, which is estimated to cost £3bn a year by 2029-30, Reeves said her party did “not believe that the solution to a broken welfare system is to punish the most vulnerable children”. An estimated 350,000 children across the country could be lifted out of poverty as a result of lifting the cap, according to research by the End Child Poverty Coalition.
The two-child benefit limit affected a record high of 469,780 households across Great Britain in the year to April 2025, according to figures from the Department of Work and Pensions. The majority of those households (59%) were in work, and were home to a total of 1.7 million children.
Some 260,080 of those children were in Universal Credit households across Greater London. There were a total of 10,900 children living in households impacted by the two-child limit in the Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency, which is held by Diane Abbott.
That works out as 42% of children living in the area, which is a higher proportion than in any parliamentary constituency in Great Britain. In David Lammy’s constituency of Tottenham, meanwhile, a total of 7,890 children lived in Universal Credit households impacted by the limit. It works out as 29% of children living in the area.
In Bethnal Green and Stepney 29% of children were impacted (6,790 in total), while in Brent East it was 27% (7,250 children). You can see how many children are impacted by the policy in each constituency by using our interactive map below. The map also shows you which MP and party currently controls the seat.
Joseph Howes, CEO of Buttle UK and Chair of the End Child Poverty Coalition said: “We commend The Chancellor on her decision to scrap the two-child limit, which will lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty. This provides real hope for families across the country.
“More children will grow up with the security, opportunity, and support they deserve. This change will help lift futures — giving more children the chance to dream bigger, learn without limits, and grow up knowing they are valued.”
Table showing the London neighbourhoods most impacted
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