Christians Against Poverty (CAP) has recognised the importance of the government's decision to remove the two-child limit, while highlighting that without the removal of the overall cap on the payment of benefits for families, children may still face poverty.
The national debt help charity recognises the benefits of supporting children to grow up with sufficient income to access the essentials, which many currently cannot. CAP has highlighted that by ensuring the social security system supports every child in a household, the Chancellor is actively addressing the barriers to a thriving childhood and future opportunities to fulfil their potential.
The charity also welcomes the increases in the minimum and living wage. There are some announcements such as supporting young people into employment, caps on rail fares and prescriptions which may be light relief too.
More to be done
However, as the Chancellor acknowledged, households across the UK are still struggling. CAP waits to see what more will come in the following months, and years, to support people who are struggling on low incomes.
CAP has already fed into ongoing reviews and will be keeping close to the outcome of the Child Poverty Strategy, Universal Credit Review, Milburn Review [the independent government-commissioned investigation, led by former Labour Health Secretary Alan Milburn, into the rising number of young people in the UK who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET)], and Timms Review [the first full review of the UK's Personal Independence Payment (PIP)]. In the meantime, CAP will continue to be there with free debt advice, money coaching, and Job Clubs, to provide vital support for those who still need our help.
Stewart McCulloch, CAP's Chief Executive Officer, said: “We already know that families feel the disproportionate impact of poverty, with 40 per cent of parents with children under 18 reporting having daily anxiety about their finances, and 27 per cent with children under 18 facing problem debt, compared to 14 per cent of UK adults without children. [1]
“Poverty steals potential and almost half of our clients simply don’t have enough income to even pay for their food, heating and other basic needs.
“We know from our own work that children growing up in debt-burdened households face anxiety, exclusion, and reduced life chances. Ending the two-child limit is an investment in the nation’s future citizens, workforce and wellbeing. It is a recognition that you cannot build a strong country or economy on the shaky foundations of child poverty. This decision gives parents the breathing space they need to focus on parenting, rather than panicking about the next bill.
“We also hope to hear further details about how recommendations from the government’s Child Poverty Strategy will be implemented. The Strategy focuses on proposing methods for reducing the trap of poverty that children across the UK face.
"Helping families into work alongside local support are all vital elements in ending the lifelong cost of living crisis for the next generation.
“However, there are still significant gaps in moves towards proper welfare reform that would guarantee households have a basic level of income to be able to afford the most basic essentials.”
In response to the situation facing many families in severe financial distress this winter, CAP’s Christmas Appeal focuses on providing emergency support to help prevent parents and their kids from going hungry this Christmas: capuk.org/appeal
- Polling commissioned by CAP and conducted by Opinium. Total sample size was 2000 UK adults. Fieldwork was undertaken on 29th August 2025-2nd September 2025. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+). Population figures have been calculated using Opinium’s UK population estimates of 54,196,443 UK adults.
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