Burnley: Pastor Mick urges parties to lift child benefit cap

The two-child cap, which was introduced in 2017, restricts child tax credit and universal credit to the first two children in most households.

It means families cannot claim about £3,200 a year per extra child, according to charities and campaigners.

In their election manifesto, the Conservatives say child benefit would move “to a household system, so families don’t start losing child benefit until their combined income reaches £120,000”.

Questioned on the cap during a televised debate on ITV last week, Reform UK leader Mr Farage said: “I think we should encourage people to have families.”

A Liberal Democrat spokeswoman told the BBC it would remove the two-child limit and “lift half a million children out of poverty”.

She added: “Children do not choose to be born to parents who already have other children and it is unfair to design the system that punishes them.”

The Green Party has just released its policy on welfare, which calls for the cap to be scrapped.

Green Party co-leader, Adrian Ramsay said: “This one decision could lift 250,000 children out of poverty.”