Pressure growing to scrap two-child benefit limit

Olympia, a performing-arts teacher, lives with her husband, who works in retail distribution, and has a daughter, seven, and two sons, six and two.

And the family, from Redcar, Teesside, have had their benefits capped due to the two-child limit.

“My son has never had a new school jumper because I know he will fit into my daughter’s,” Olympia, who asked for her surname to be withheld, told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour programme.

“There have been instances, especially when it comes to the end of the month, where we’ve had to improvise and be like, ‘There’s no cereal, there’s a tin of beans to go between three children.’

“What makes my first two children more important than my third?

“As a mum, I feel like I’ve failed.”

Olympia said she was “very aware” she and her husband had chosen to have the children but added a little bit of help would make a huge difference.