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Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has strongly indicated that the Labour government may end the controversial two-child benefit cap, describing the reduction of child poverty as a core moral mission of the new administration.
Speaking to long-time campaigners who have pushed for the policy to be scrapped, Phillipson said, “We hear them… We want to make this change happen.” She stressed that Labour’s central purpose in government is to ensure fewer children grow up in hardship.
While acknowledging the significant cost of ending the policy—estimated at £3.5 billion—Phillipson said a final decision would be made through the new child poverty taskforce, which she co-chairs. Still, she expressed deep personal commitment to the issue, citing her own experiences of growing up in poverty.
“This is why I entered politics,” she said. “This government is about making different choices to support children and families. The cost of not acting is high—not just for the affected children and their families, but for society as a whole.”
The two-child benefit limit, introduced by the Conservatives, has been widely criticized by child welfare organizations as a major driver of poverty. Research suggests it pushes around 100 children into poverty every day—equating to roughly 20,000 children during a six-month delay in policy change.
Phillipson pointed to ongoing government measures such as expanded access to funded childcare, affordable school uniforms, and breakfast clubs as steps already being taken. She also emphasized the importance of enabling parents to increase their working hours as part of a broader poverty-reduction strategy.
Although she noted that Labour would not have introduced such a policy, she said repealing it isn’t simple due to the significant financial implications. “We have to get this right,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Her remarks come as Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is expected to support lifting the cap, drawing criticism from the Conservatives, who argue that families should be accountable for the number of children they have—a sentiment Phillipson rejected as overly simplistic.
She highlighted the story of a constituent who had made a reasonable choice to have three children, only to lose a partner unexpectedly and face reduced benefits. “These changes haven’t affected people’s decisions on family size,” she added, “but they have increased the number of children living in poverty.”
While she acknowledged that ending the benefit cap is not the only path forward, Phillipson reaffirmed Labour’s commitment to tackling child poverty. “We will do what is necessary to make that a reality,” she said.
