UK Government fails to seize significant opportunity

Nicola Killean, Children and Young People’s Commissioner: 

“We are very disappointed that the UK Government has not committed to end the discriminatory two-child benefit cap, which is a clear violation of children’s rights. This office has long been calling for the policy – which does not allow benefits to third and subsequent children born after April 2017 in most circumstances – to be scrapped. The new Government has chosen not to take the significant opportunity to lift thousands of children out of poverty by abolishing the cap.   

“Poverty remains the most significant human rights issue facing children in Scotland today. Around one in four children are living in poverty. Since becoming Commissioner last year, children have consistently told me how concerned they are about poverty and how worried they feel for family members and friends. Poverty impacts on all aspects of a child’s life including their rights to physical and mental health, to education, to access opportunities to socialise and play.    

“The two-child benefit cap is a clear violation of children’s human rights as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). It breaches children’s right to an adequate standard of living, contributes to a rising gap in poverty levels between families with three or more children and smaller households and disproportionately impacts on social groups where larger families are more common, such as some minority faith and ethnic groups.   

“Over many years, this office, other UK Children’s Commissioners, charities and third sector organisations have all highlighted the damage the policy has done and demanded that it be abolished. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty, and the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child have also called for it to be ended. We urge the UK Government to heed these calls.”