Getting paid £3513.72 tax free per year for each 3rd, 4th or more child if on UC

[WishingIwasyoungerandslimmer]

Is this really reasonable? For those working and just missing the eligibility criteria for Universal Credit, is it fair to them?

When would anyone working and just gettig by, be able to get an additional take home pay amount of £3513.72 per year for each child that you have? Have three children? Here's £10541.16. Got 4? That's £14054.88 . Have 5? Here's £17568.60. These figures are tax free amounts so the extra pay needed will be a lot more.

Did those calling for the two child cap to be lifted not understand the amounts of money that will be handed out if lifted?

Doesn't it just disincentivise parents from moving off Universal Credit into work or for those in work to try and get better paid jobs?

Isn't it a slap in the face for couples having to limit their family size to one or two children and to have to both work full time to support them through paid labour and paying taxes?

Surely if the government felt forced to scrap the two child cap, why not instead have reduced rates for each subsequent child? Apart from food, other costs will be less as the each new child has the use of older siblings old clothes, baby equipment etc.

The two child cap was popular for the majority of the country. It was popular with those that would have liked to have more children but cannot afford to do on the wages/salary they receive. Now over the next few years as it gets harder and harder to get by for those in work but not receiving benefits, the resentment will grow and grow. While those recipients of the UK's welfare state's largesse are saying, thank you very much, no need now for me to try and find work or work harder.

Hardly any UC claimants will actually get any extra money due to the 2 child limit being lifted.

The benefit cap means most claimants will not see any increase in award, unless they are either in full time work (in which case their award will be reduced a lot by their earnings) or have a disabled child (in which case frankly I don't begrudge them a penny).

Forgive my ignorance, but aren't the family still subject to the overall benefit cap? So it is limited.

So it's actually working families that this will benefit more?

Whatever the reason is for not giving the parents money, the outcome is children in poverty. Yes, in some cases (I don't think all), the parents should do more, but still, the people who pay the price when the money isn't there is the child.

Yes you are entirely correct but that won't stop the frothers 🙄

No idea. By the time I'd saved enough to get a mortgage for security and think about a family, it was too late to have children. I'm happily leaning into that as my reality because the alternative is to get really bitter. And I guess pragmatically we have a declining birth rate.

Are these figures really right?
But assuming they are, do people really have kids to get benefits?
I have 2 DC and I wouldn't have any more if you paid me a million.

There’s zilch evidence the cap prevented poor people from having more than two children. All it was successful at was driving those kids into more poverty. It was a cruel cap, directed at the ‘feckless’ poor who people for some reason think just sit around having children to get more benefits. I’m sure a few people like this do exist but they’re few and far between. Plus I just don’t think children should ever suffer.

These figures are tax free amounts so the extra pay needed will be a lot more.

I think when comparing "benefits" (handouts) to earned salary a key factor fail to take into account is taxation.

For me to take home an extra £17568.60 I would need to earn +£32k gross...

What's the point in lifting the 2 child cap when the benefit cap will remain?

It was the most efficient way to lift a lot of children out of poverty. I'm broadly in favour. (Yours sincerely, woman running food bank)

The benefit cap doesn't apply to those in full time work, or those who have a disabled child.

Yes, and don't forget that this is tax free money too,.so someone who have to earn a lot more than those amounts to get that much in their bank account (particularly when you factor in student loan deductions and commuting costs too)

If someone in the family claims disability, the benefit cap doesn't count. So if you've got 6 kids and 1 gets dla, you will get a lot more money.

My husband is in full time work and we have 2 disabled kids. The extra for our baby will help

It's not people who have a disabled child, it's people with a disabled child who gets dla. Many (not sure how many exactly) disabled children don't get dla

I chose not to have more children because I am a responsible mother and I knew I couldn't afford another and provide decently.

Now, instead, I get to work full time in my 60s to pay for someone else to have more children.

And for those thinking it benefits children, don't be so sure. I'm from a numerous, free school meals family. My f went on producing children because he got more Family Allowance and more tax rebates, and we, his children, were just a revenue stream. We damn near starved while he had hand made suits. It was no fun at all.

So, no, I'm not impressed with the budget.

Quite. You'd think contraception had never been invented sometimes!

Free school breakfasts and lunches and free holiday clubs seem like a better way of ensuring children aren't produced as cash cows then neglected.

Absolutely is a slap in the face, my husband and I both work. We cannot afford another child and act accordingly. Scrapping the cap is rewarding families who rely on the state and prioritise their wants over children’s needs.

The figures are taken from gov.uk. See link below.

www.gov.uk/universal-credit/what-youll-get

Here's a link to information about the benefit cap.

https://www.gov.uk/benefit-cap/when-youre-not-affected

I concede that in some cases the amounts payable with the lifting of the 2 child cap may be limited by the benefit cap. But as seen those amounts could be paid in certain circumstances as detailed on gov.uk. For example do some paid work and the cap doesn't apply. Also if the parents have diabilities that prevent them working or if any children are disabled the benefit cap isn't in place. Children with disabilities get extra money under Universal credit.

Also, there have been calls to review the benefit cap.

2.96 million households with children received a payment for Universal Credit in August 2025 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-statistics-29-april-2013-to-9-october-2025/universal-credit-statistics-29-april-2013-to-9-october-2025

56.000 families have 5 or more children. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-and-child-tax-credit-claimants-statistics-related-to-the-policy-to-provide-support-for-a-maximum-of-2-children-april-2024/universal-credit-and-child-tax-credit-claimants-statistics-related-to-the-policy-to-provide-support-for-a-maximum-of-two-children-april-2024

So you're arguing about 1.9% of the UC claiming population, before adjusting for those affected by the benefit cap.

Just because wages are stagnant and companies refuse to pay decent wages in the UK (which paying increasingly large dividends to share holders), doesn't mean that the poorest shouldn't get enough to live on.

Are you sure your sums are correct OP?
Child benefit £26.05 a week for the first child.
17.25 a week for each subsequent child

Its not full time work though. The cap is lifted “if you get Universal Credit and you and your partner earn £846 or more a month combined, after tax and National Insurance contributions”. That means that in a couple, the cap is lifted when 1 of you is doing about 18 hours a week at minimum wage! Hardly full time!

It's not about child benefit

I'm talking about the child element of Universal Credit, not about Child Benefit.

Here's a link about Universal Credit payments.

www.gov.uk/universal-credit/what-youll-get

This has been confusing so many on Mumsnet over the years since the two child benefit cap was introduced.