A letter to Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been signed by a cross-sector coalition of organisations from the North East, calling for a lift to the two-child cap for Universal Credit.
In the letter, Beth Farhat (Chair, North East Child Poverty Commission and Regional Secretary) writes “This cruel policy now affects around 70,000 babies, children and young people in low income families across the North East (both in and out of work); a figure that will continue to rise as more babies are born…”
She continues, “Indeed, Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) analysis indicates that, for every single day the two-child limit remains in place, a further 109 children are pulled into poverty across the country. This is unconscionable”
Among these signatories was Clare Morley, CEO of Rise, who said:
“Too often children in the North East are held back by things they can’t control, and poverty is one of those things. But while they can’t control it, the government has a sure-fire way of reducing it, and that’s by removing the two-child limit in Universal Credit.
“There’s no way that child poverty should exist anywhere in this country today. It’s especially high in the North East and affects many different parts of children’s lives, contributing to poorer health and poorer exam results than in other parts of the country, as we saw last month.
“Lots of the causes of inequalities are complicated, but scrapping the limit at the Autumn Budget will go a long way to giving children in our region the start in life that they deserve.”
Read the full letter below: