Child limit on benefits will cause deep poverty, Supreme Court told

THE GOVERNMENT’S “twochild limit” for welfare payments will cause “deep and inescapable child poverty”, the UK’s highest court has been told.

It “fails to recognise children as deserving of social protection in their own right”, lawyers for two families bringing a legal challenge over the policy argued.

The rule, which came into force in April 2017, restricts Child Tax Credit and Universal Credit to the first two children in a family, with a few exceptions.

At a remote hearing yesterday, a panel of seven Supreme Court justices were being asked to decide whether the limit is incompatible with human rights laws.

The families – who cannot be identified – have both been affected by the limit, with children born after the new rule came into force under the Welfare Reform and Work Act on April 6, 2017.

Richard Drabble QC, barrister for the families, argued that the policy breaches the families’ rights under the European Convention

on Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In documents submitted to the court, he said that the two welfare benefits “are the safety- net benefits for children in the UK”.

He said: “The two- child limit will generate deep and inescapable child poverty, due to the core human rights defect that it fails to recognise children as deserving of social protection in their own right.”

The Government maintains that the policy does not breach human rights laws.

In documents before the court, Sir James Eadie QC said the aims of the policy include ensuring that welfare spending is sustainable and fair to the taxpayer, while protecting the most vulnerable.

The barrister also argued the Government’s objectives was simply to shift the impact of choosing to have more children onto the individuals and away from the state.

The hearing is due to last three days, with a ruling at a later date.