# 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.” > > — Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Labour Party; Budget statement, House of Commons, 26 November 2025 - **Status:** Delivered - **Status ladder:** Promised → In plan → Legislated → Funded → Delivering → Delivered - **Policy area:** [Social protection](https://ledgergov.uk/promises/area/social-protection) - **Speaker:** [Rachel Reeves](https://ledgergov.uk/actor/rachel-reeves), Chancellor of the Exchequer - **Party:** [Labour Party](https://ledgergov.uk/actor/labour) - **Made on:** 26 November 2025 - **Where:** Budget statement, House of Commons - **Deadline:** 6 April 2026 - **Cost a year:** Costs £2.1bn to £2.6bn a year (central £2.4bn) - **Who it affects:** Families on Universal Credit with three or more children - **When:** 6 April 2026 - **Paid for by:** Tackling fraud and error in our welfare system, cracking down on tax avoidance and reforming gambling taxation - **Quote source:** https://hansard-api.parliament.uk/debates/debate/0FD15A2E-84B6-49F0-939A-24B7AABFB798.json (checked word for word on 6 October 2026; Open Parliament Licence v3.0) - **Last updated:** 6 October 2026 - **Card:** https://ledgergov.uk/promise/uk-two-child-limit-2025 ## 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. ## Timeline - 26 November 2025, Promised: Chancellor announces the removal of the two-child limit in full from April 2026 in the Budget - 26 November 2025, Funded: Budget 2025 scores the removal at £2.365bn in 2026-27, rising to £3.235bn in 2030-31 ([evidence](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/budget-2025-document/budget-2025-html)) - 18 March 2026, Legislated: Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Act 2026 receives Royal Assent; in force from 6 April 2026 ([evidence](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2026/13/enacted)) - 6 April 2026, Deadline: Due to take effect from April 2026 - 6 April 2026, Delivered: Two-child limit removed for Universal Credit assessment periods starting on or after 6 April 2026 ([evidence](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-claimants-statistics-on-the-two-child-limit-policy-april-2026/universal-credit-claimants-statistics-on-the-two-child-limit-policy-april-2026)) ## 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. Costing sources: - [Budget 2025 (HM Treasury), Table 5.1](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/budget-2025-document/budget-2025-html) - [OBR Economic and fiscal outlook, November 2025](https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-november-2025/) ## Corrections - 6 October 2026, the funded by in version 1: Funding 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](https://hansard-api.parliament.uk/debates/debate/0FD15A2E-84B6-49F0-939A-24B7AABFB798.json)) ## Sources - [Hansard, House of Commons, 26 Nov 2025: Financial Statement and Budget Report](https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2025-11-26/debates/0FD15A2E-84B6-49F0-939A-24B7AABFB798/FinancialStatementAndBudgetReport) - [Hansard, House of Commons, 26 Nov 2025: Financial Statement and Budget Report (official report, Hansard API)](https://hansard-api.parliament.uk/debates/debate/0FD15A2E-84B6-49F0-939A-24B7AABFB798.json) - [Budget 2025 (HM Treasury)](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/budget-2025-document/budget-2025-html) - [OBR Economic and fiscal outlook, November 2025](https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-november-2025/) - [Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Act 2026](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2026/13/enacted) - [DWP press release, 19 Mar 2026: Two-child limit scrapped as Bill becomes law](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/two-child-limit-scrapped-as-historic-bill-to-lift-450000-children-out-of-poverty-becomes-law) - [DWP official statistics: Universal Credit claimants statistics on the two child limit policy, April 2026](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-claimants-statistics-on-the-two-child-limit-policy-april-2026/universal-credit-claimants-statistics-on-the-two-child-limit-policy-april-2026) ## Checks - Checked by AI Journalist (automated) on 6 October 2026; human editor review to come. --- Public Ledger's own writing (headlines, status notes, cost notes, summaries) is licensed under [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): reuse it, crediting Public Ledger with a link to the card. 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