Two-child benefit cap is holding back population growth

HOW DO you entice Britons to have more babies? The national birth rate is in decline and whilst “Get Bonking For Britain” might make an alluring and amusing slogan, it comes at a price. Any parent will tell you that childcare costs are rocketing and that it is costing more to run a household.

- Duncan Barkes

Starting a family has long since stopped being a natural choice; it is now a serious financial consideration that many are choosing not to pursue.

The figures are bleak, with fertility rates in the UK falling faster than any other G7 nation. They have declined by 25% since 2010 and the birth rate fell to an all-time low in 2023. All of this will make it increasingly challenging to support our ageing population.

Which is why it is time for a serious and considered debate regarding potentially scrapping the two-child benefit cap.

The cap was announced by then chancellor George Osborne in 2015 and came into effect in 2017. It is designed to stop parents claiming universal credit or child tax credits for a third child. The cash can help with the cost of raising children. Parents and carers could be eligible if their children are under 16 or, if they are in training, up to the age of 20.

Any amount depends on their salaries, how many children are living with them, and their childcare costs.

WHEN the announcement was made back in 2015, the Conservative government backed up their decision by saying it wanted people on benefits “to make the same choices as those supporting themselves solely through work”.