To ask if the child benefit cap has stopped you having more children?

[OriginalGeordie]

I am really curious to know whether the 2 child cap has affected people’s plans for a larger family? I have 3 DC but had mine before the rules changed. Pondering it earlier, I can’t honestly say whether it would put me off. DH says it would put him off.

Has anyone here avoided having more solely because of it?

No and it's not what you asked but finances did limit our family to two children.

We're pretty comfortable (own house, own cars, independent school etc) but knew that a third child would mean giving up certain luxuries so stopped.

A third child seems to be much more expensive. A nice saloon is suddenly cramped, family tickets + 1 etc.

I think financial considerations should always be taken into account whether this is money from the government or money people earn.

Yes it has to a certain extent, however child care cost, moving house, different car, clothes, nappies and the general cost of another person to be financially responsible for put me of more then the benefit cap.

I regret it a lot... sometimes

We finished having our family long before the cap came in but knowing what we could afford was a feature of our decision to stop at two, I would have loved more but it wouldn't have been sensible financially.

Not for us but we had our three before it kicked in anyway. I desperately want a 4th child but DH doesn't. We probably can't really afford another one anyway but like anything in life, you find a way to manage. It certainly wouldn't financially cripple us or anything as I'm a sahm so childcare costs aren't a factor.

Its a factor among others.
The discussion went like this:

Me (sadly):Well I guess we've reached the limit of our financial abilities...
DH (With surprising vehmence): I've reached the end of my emotional abilities!

I’m sure plenty of people stop when they would otherwise want more children due to the cost. But I don’t see how you’d be unable to afford a third on your own but £13.70 a week would make all the difference. It’s such a paltry amount that whilst I’m sure it helps, it doesn’t come close to the actual costs of raising a child.

We stopped at 2 because my body couldn’t take anymore. However there was no such thing as tax credits back then and 2 was all we could afford anyway.

I'ma lone parent and have two dc. My marriage ended a year ago. I've thought about this a lot and the cap would definitely affect a decision to have another child if I were to meet a new partner in the future.

I think even if I were to meet someone and at that point could afford another child without claiming benefits, I would always want to option to leave the relationship without plunging myself and children into poverty.

I appreciate that this situation is hypothetical and quite possibly pessimistic, but I guess the point I'm making is that you can never predict the future. I would imagine the cap will affect many people's decisions on family planning.

No we still wouldn't have been able to afford a third child. It would have meant an extra £4K a year for us (in benefit terms) but only on a short term basis. We expect to come off tax credits within the next 18 months anyway.
I know people who decided to try for their third child earlier than they would have, in order to still be eligible for the credit

We don't qualify for benefits and how many children we could afford quite rightly affected how many dcs we had (2 as it happens). If you don't get benefits your pay doesn't increase because you have more children therefore your benefits shouldn't either so I do fully support the cap.

Sorry to be a pedant but CHILD TAX CREDIT has a two child cap not CHILD BENEFIT

I don’t think a child benefit payment of £13.50 per week is going to stop people having more than 2 children.

It is about £66 a week NOT £13.70

Child benefit hasn’t been stopped for more than 2 children?

Oh I hadn’t noticed the difference... Thanks Persian.

Ah, cross post!

I see I’m uninformed .... as is the op

So it’s not child benefit ???
But child tax credit ??

No - because I don't intend to rely on the State to pay for my choices around children.

when I had ds2 we both worked full time and only got £40/month tax credits and child benefit we stopped at two because that was all we could afford , ds2 in be known to us at the time has disabilities so u have up work and whilst we do claim significantly more benefits now, I wouldn't have had a third child as A) I was too old a and B) it would have so much more hard work .

I wouldn't have any children unless I can support them without help from the state. It probably means I won't ever afford them :( but I don't believe in others paying for my life choices.

I'd never make any plans taking benefits into consideration, as they all seem to be vanishing fast, and its only going to get worse. I wouldn't even have a second child if it meant relying on tax credits/ UC.

Urgh can see where this is going

The cap is on Tax Credits and Universal Credit, which will eventually replace tax credits.

To those that say they wouldn't be relying on benefits to start with, you do realise that sometimes people's circumstances change? You may be in a good financial position when you have children then later need to claim benefits due to being made redundant, I'll health or relationship breakdown.

No, we only ever wanted two and that’s how many we’ve had. Getting my coil fitted in a few weeks again (no sex since our ds was born 11 weeks ago) and don’t plan to have it out till one of us is sterilised!

Nope. Not stopped me. I'm pregnant with baby number 4 and couldn't care less. We aren't on good money either.
Obviously if we were entitled to claim for this baby we would, but it doesn't actually bother me in the slightest that we can't. I just want the baby and we will cut our cloth accordingly.

People who hate benefit claimants seem to be rubbing their hands with glee in a "ha, that'll show em" sort of way because the benefits are now capped at 2 children. But it won't stop people from having babies