DWP rule change to hand families £300 boost next week
From 6 April, a change to DWP rules will give low-income families a much-welcomed boost
DWP rule change from Wednesday will hand people on benefits £300 boost(Image: pixelfusion3d via Getty Images)
A Department for Work and Pensions rule change coming into effect next week will deliver a £300 boost to families. The scrapping of the two-child benefit cap will provide a £300-a-month financial lifeline to hard-pressed families, according to the Labour government.
From Monday (April 6), low-income households will be able to claim Universal Credit payments for every child living at home. The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) estimates that 109 children have been pushed into poverty every day as a result of the two-child policy, as families struggle to cover the cost of essentials.
Alison Garnham, CPAG’s chief executive, warned that children growing up in poverty faced “worse health and education outcomes, lower life expectancy and reduced earnings as adults”, describing the abolition of the cap as a “critical first step in turning opportunities around for kids”.
One mother of three told the charity: “The children have only been back at school two weeks and already I’m in debt for school dinners and for upcoming school trips. If my child is the only child that doesn’t go then that will have an effect on him. Every month I do our budget to the last penny.”
Citizens Advice said it witnesses the “devastating effect this policy has had on families every day”, reports Birmingham Live. Head of policy for Citizens Advice, David Mendes da Costa, said removing the limit would “mean the difference between falling into debt and being able to afford basics like food and school uniforms”.
Dan Paskins, executive director of UK impact at Save the Children UK said: “For the past nine years, there has effectively been a cap on childhood as the two-child limit to benefits kept families poor and robbed children in larger families of the same opportunities as their peers.
“There is now more of a chance that incomes will match the real cost of raising a family, as well as better health outcomes for children, educational attainment and long-term job prospects.”