Phillipson is pushing for the cap to be lifted in full, the Guardian reports.
Education secretary and Labour Party deputy leadership contender Bridget Phillipson is pushing the Prime Minister and chancellor to abolish the two-child benefit cap in full, ahead of the budget next month.
The two-child benefit cap was introduced by George Osborne as Conservative chancellor. It bars families from claiming the £292.81-a-month child element of universal credit for third and subsequent children born after April 6, 2017.
According to the Child Poverty Action Group, every day 109 more children are pulled into poverty by the policy. If the policy were scrapped, 350,000 children would be lifted from poverty instantly, at a cost of £2bn. The depth of poverty would be reduced for another 800,000 children.
The Child Poverty Taskforce, which was set up by the Labour government to look at ways to eradicate child poverty, is jointly led by Bridget Phillipson, who is pushing for the cap to be scrapped altogether after reports that the chancellor is exploring options of a tapered system instead.
Some of the options being considered include moving the cap to three or four children instead.
However, Phillipson is pushing for the cap to be lifted in full, the Guardian reports.
Phillipson told the Guardian’s Politics Weekly podcast: “I’ve been clear in public and in conversations with colleagues about what the evidence tells us and what needs to happen. Every year that passes, because of the two-child limit, more children move into poverty and the evidence is there for all to see.”
Asked if she was seeking a mandate specifically to push for the removal of the cap, and not only for it to be tapered, she agreed. “Members should know that if I’m at that cabinet table, I know what needs to happen and I know what we need to do,” she added.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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