Friends call for end to two-child cap
175 signatories urge the chancellor to scrap the two-child limit in social security payments
Quakers were among 175 signatories from churches urging the chancellor to scrap the two-child limit in social security payments.
The multi-denominational call came ahead of the government’s first Budget on 30 October.
Senior church figures signed an open letter, coordinated by Church Action on Poverty as part of Challenge Poverty Week, arguing that the two-child limit is creating ‘a great injustice’. It said: ‘It is, in reality, a sibling penalty. It punishes children for the fact that they happen to have more than one brother or sister. Something that should be a joy – sibling companionship – is instead held against children, denying them access to the opportunities, security and basic sustenance that all children deserve and need.’
Church Action on Poverty said that the government’s own statistics show that 1.6 million children in 440,000 households are affected by the sibling restriction, with families missing out on up to £3,455 a year. It said lifting the cap would immediately free 300,000 children from poverty.
The letter was signed by representatives from the Church of England, Church of Scotland, Church in Wales, Roman Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, Quaker, Pentecostal, and Episcopal churches. Friends signing included: Enid Pinch (South Manchester Meeting), Elizabeth Coleman (Eccles Meeting), Oriole Hall (Inverness Meeting), Susan Jappie (Lewes Meeting), Alison Maxwell (Blue Idol Meeting), and Catherine Margham (Harrogate Meeting).
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