Universal Credit - mitigation of the two-child limit: consultation analysis
Analysis of responses to the Scottish Government consultation on mitigating the two-child limit in Universal Credit in Scotland.
Footnotes
1 Mitigating the two-child limit and the Scottish Budget - January 2025
2 Scottish Budget 2025 to 2026 - gov.scot
3 Mitigating the two-child limit and the Scottish Budget - January 2025
4 It should be noted that Universal Credit, and the child payment element, is paid to those in work, as well as unemployed adults.
5 Based on data from: https://data.gov.scot/poverty/#Children
6 These included: House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee ‘The Two Child Limit: Third Report of Session 2019’, and Stewart et al (2025) ‘Does Reducing Child Benefits Mean Parents Work More? A Mixed-Methods Study of the Labor Market Effects of the United Kingdom’s “Two-Child Limit”.’ Social Services Review, Vol. 99:1.
7 The Social Security (Amendment)(Scotland) Act 2025 enables Scottish Ministers to introduce regulations for 'childhood assistance'. This could be used to create a new benefit to help towards meeting some of the costs associated with having a child in the family.
8 The protected characteristics covered are age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity, race, sex, sexual orientation and religion and belief.
Contact
Email: socialsecuritycl@gov.scot