'My son lives without any joy': How DWP's two-child benefit limit is punishing children in crisis

Children are growing up in poverty, facing harsh conditions, sleeping on the floor, skipping school, and going to sleep cold and hungry. These aren’t isolated incidents; this is day-to-day living for thousands of families in the UK, and it’s getting worse.

‌Data from the End Child Poverty coalition shows us that 4.3 million children are living in poverty across the UK, and children have continued to have the highest poverty rates.

‌Buttle UK’s research from 1,567 families living in crisis found that 50% of these families are sleeping on the floor at night and have to choose between heating or eating — these are two very basic needs that every child deserves: to be fed and to be warm. However, one in five families we spoke to were unable to feed themselves and their children every day, and this rose to one in four for families with three or more children.

• This is the harsh reality of the two-child benefit limit for families: ‘It’s like wearing a scarlet letter’
• This is what life with the DWP’s two-child benefit limit looks like through a child’s eyes

‌One parent told us: “I struggle to clothe and feed my son. I’m diabetic and often don’t eat more than one bowl of cereal a day, just to make sure my son has the food he needs.”

Another parent shared: “Sometimes they’re crying with hunger, and I know I’m filling them with empty calories just to tide them over.”

‌The reality is that the cost of living crisis is pushing families further and further down the poverty dead end, and we need urgent intervention from the government to stop things from getting even worse. Many families are trapped in the poverty cycle, unable to claw their way out regardless of the many hours of work and the sacrifices that they are making for their children. More and more families are plummeting into poverty every week – and many will never make it back out – without help. It’s been 20 years and six prime ministers since the last prolonged period of falling poverty – something needs to change.

‌There are many charities, like Buttle UK, who are working with these families, clothing these children with school uniforms, and supporting them to plug as many gaps as possible, but what these families need is a real chance to turn the tide. One mother, Itshisa, had to leave her job after her daughter was sexually assaulted – her daughter requires daily care, leaving Itshisa unable to leave her home to get back into her career as a teacher in special needs education. Hounded by debt collectors for bills she cannot afford to pay, so she is trapped in a poverty cycle that will keep spinning until she is able to receive the right support to enable her to get her life back on track.

‌We need to lift the support that these families should be able to access to give them a hand up, enabling them to try and climb out. And we need to better support the mental and physical health of children who are suffering from these consequences through no fault of their own. One parent’s response said: ‘My son lives without any joy.’ What an awful blight on our nation that this is the experience children can face. We are calling on our new government to help these children to live a life of potential, not just to survive another day.

‌We want to see the government lift the two-child benefit limit in October’s budget – which is directly contributing to the dire circumstances families are living in. Data consistently shows that larger families are disproportionately impacted on matters of food, utilities, clothing, and other basic needs. When it comes to lifting families out of these dire circumstances, universal credit has a role to play. It needs to provide an adequate, liveable income to all families in need, as is highlighted by the Essentials Guarantee.

‌Additionally, we need to overhaul social support. We need to see a health strategy specifically for children and young people in poverty. This strategy should acknowledge the physical illnesses caused by neglect by poverty and provide additional funding for tailored programmes within services such as counselling, dentistry, and nutrition.

• As a single mum to three children, the two-child benefit cap reminds me that society judges me
• Scrap two-child benefit limit to end child poverty, Labour told: ‘Good intentions are not enough’

‌We also urgently need to see an overhaul of the current NHS mental health provision for all children and young people in the UK today. The waiting lists are too long, causing support to come long after the issue has taken root. The provision of mental health professionals in key settings such as children’s centres and education settings could help, but this must be supported by investment in training and adequate quantities of staffing.

‌One mother told us: “Their father is deceased through suicide, and I had to go back to full-time work. I am the only parent… their self-esteem is destroyed.”

‌Another parent shared the devastating effects on her daughters. “My two older daughters have self-harmed and tried to take their own lives in the last six months,” she said.

‌Children in crisis are currently trapped in a well-being emergency – and as with any emergency – we need to see the government running to help. Children are not sleeping because they have cold rooms, broken or cramped beds, or nowhere to sleep at all. This leads to stress and fatigue, which causes or worsens the symptoms of mental illness. Hunger and lack of food contribute to low energy and irritability, which in turn leaves little mental resources to cope and affects school attendance.

‌These parents are struggling; children are struggling – it’s time for real change.

Joseph Howes is CEO of Buttle UK.

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