Over 2,200 children in Llanelli are set to benefit from extra support for their families as the bill to scrap the two-child limit reached its third reading in Parliament this week, marking the most significant step to reduce child poverty in a generation.
The imposition of the two-child limit by the Conservatives when they were in power has pushed hundreds of thousands of children into poverty, damaging their health, their education and their life chances. Alongside an increased risk of obesity and mental health problems, growing up in poverty holds children back from achieving their potential. Children growing up in poverty are less likely to do well at school – with fewer than one in four children in poverty achieving five good GCSEs – and are more likely to face unemployment, losing up to £1 million in lifetime earnings.
Intervening now to tackle the root causes of child poverty will give thousands of children a better chance to come to school ready to learn, setting themselves up to succeed and go on to have secure, well-paid jobs.
This could also help to address skill shortages felt across the country. In the UK, there are skills shortages in jobs such as care workers, home carers and software developers due to employers being unable to find applicants with the right skills, qualifications or experience to fulfil roles. Lifting children out of poverty will not only benefit families in the short term but is an investment that will help bolster Britain’s future workforce.
Removing the two-child limit will lift 450,000 children out of poverty in the final year of this parliament. That will rise to around 550,000 alongside other measures announced this year.
The move comes alongside wider effort to cut the cost of living for families through measures such as boosting the National Living Wage and taking £150 off energy bills.
Dame Nia Griffith, MP for Llanelli, who supports axing the two-child limit said:
“In Llanelli alone, an estimated 2,200 children will benefit from this change, giving them the foundation they need to succeed in school and go on to get secure, well-paid jobs.
“Removing the two-child limit is not just right thing to do, it’s an investment in a generation that will not only reduce child poverty but also help to fill skills gaps and drive our economy forward for decades to come.”