One in ten kids caught in hidden poverty crisis

Benefit cap impact laid bare as thousands of children face hardship

- EDEL KENEALY

One in ten children in Renfrewshire are affected by the two-child benefit cap, new figures have revealed.

Data, released by the UK Government and analysed by the Paisley Daily Express, shows thousands of children living across the local authority area are in households affected by 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.

It affected a record high of 469,780 households across Great Britain in the year to April 2025, according to the latest figures from the Department of Work and Pensions.