Campaigners demand end to two-child cap as figures show nearly 60 per cent of families affected in work

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Nearly 60 per cent of families punished by the “cruel” two child benefit cap introduced by the Tories are in work.And nearly half are lone parents, piling pressure on Labour leader Keir Starmer to commit to scrapping the curb.Starmer angered senior Scottish Labour figures when he said a Government led by him would not lift the cap.Scots party boss Anas Sarwar said he would press Starmer to change tack and MSPs lined up to criticise the move.Drawing on official statistics, Marion Davis of One Parent Families Scotland said: “The two-child limit increases poverty and hardship – with clear material, social and emotional impacts on children.

Children are often acutely aware of the hardship their family faces and sometimes try to protect their parents from the consequences of poverty.“The majority (58%) of families affected by the policy are in paid work, and 44% are headed by single mothers.“A shocking 55% of children in working lone parent households with 3 or more children are living in poverty.”She added: “The two-child policy is cruel, immoral, and completely ineffective.

The next government must be committed to tackling child poverty from day one, and this simply will not be possible without scrapping the two-child limit.“Now, more than ever, we need all political leaders to stand with those who have been hardest hit by harmful political choices that are keeping children in poverty.“Families need a social security system that supports them, not one that punishes them.“This draconian policy must be abolished as a matter of urgency, as a first step towards rebuilding a UK social security system that treats all children equally and puts their welfare first.”According to research commissioned by the SNP, the cap affected