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Rachel ReevesLabour PartySocial protection

Remove the two-child limit in full

“I can announce today, fully costed and fully funded, the removal of the two-child limit in full from April.”

DeliveredBudget statement, House of Commons, 26 Nov 2025
  6. Delivered

Where it stands

The Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Act 2026 became law on 18 March 2026 and the limit stopped applying from assessment periods starting on or after 6 April 2026, as DWP's official statistics confirm.

What has happened

  1. Nov 2025Chancellor announces the removal of the two-child limit in full from April 2026 in the Budget, Promised
  2. Nov 2025Budget 2025 scores the removal at £2.365bn in 2026-27, rising to £3.235bn in 2030-31, Funded evidence
  3. Mar 2026Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Act 2026 receives Royal Assent; in force from 6 April 2026, Legislated evidence
  4. Apr 2026Due to take effect from April 2026, Deadline
  5. Apr 2026Two-child limit removed for Universal Credit assessment periods starting on or after 6 April 2026, Delivered evidence

About the cost

Year shown: 2026-27, the first full year (Budget 2025 policy table, certified by the OBR); central figure only. Other years in the same table: £2.590bn in 2027-28, £2.815bn in 2028-29, £3.095bn in 2029-30 and £3.235bn in 2030-31. The OBR puts the cost at £3bn by 2029-30, with 560,000 families gaining £5,310 a year on average. Low–high is an editorial ±10% because the source gives a central figure only.

More detail

Sources (7)
Corrections (1): what we fixed, in public
  1. Corrected on 6 Oct 2026: How it is paid for in version 1Funding is recorded exactly as stated (Promise standard, section 2). The Chancellor said "our welfare system", not "the welfare system".Was: “Tackling fraud and error in the welfare system, cracking down on tax avoidance and reforming gambling taxation”Now: “Tackling fraud and error in our welfare system, cracking down on tax avoidance and reforming gambling taxation”Source for the correction
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