Engender blog

A step forward for women’s equality as two-child limit set to be scrapped

After almost a decade of campaigning by Engender and other women’s and equalities groups, the UK Government has announced that the two-child limit will be scrapped from April 2026.

Over 8 years after it was first introduced, the Chancellor announced in the UK’s Autumn 2025 Budget that the two-child limit will finally be scrapped from April 2026. This long-overdue commitment is a victory for equality campaigners, activists and the women and families who have borne the profound harms of this cruel policy since its introduction. 

The two-child limit currently restricts support from Universal Credit to two children in a family, leaving women and their families without means-tested support for subsequent children. It also includes the barbaric ‘rape clause’, an exemption to the limit where a pregnancy can be shown to have resulted from rape. This forces women to disclose traumatic experiences at a time and in circumstances not of their choosing, to avoid or minimise poverty for themselves and their children. 

Organisations have long called for change

Since the limit was introduced in 2017, Engender and other women’s, anti-poverty and equalities organisations have been calling for it to be removed. We have consistently highlighted how the policy systematically discriminates against women, forcing them to justify their reproductive choices and disclose traumatic experiences to access basic social security. The policy is also internationally recognised to be a form of sexist discrimination in social security design, with the United Nations CEDAW Committee recommending it be repealed in its most recent examination of the UK in 2021. 

Evidence has consistently shown the devastating impact of the two-child limit: one in nine children across the UK are affected; thousands of women are required to report their rape to secure an exemption; and families in every local authority area in Scotland are being pushed into deeper poverty. It has a hugely disproportionate impact on women. The most recent figures indicate that over half (54%) of households affected are single-parent households, with the vast majority of these being headed by women. 

What next for women’s equality?

Scrapping the limit is a welcome first step toward reversing years of harm. We have waited far too long to see the end of this discriminatory policy. The limit is symbolic of the design flaws that embed and deepen women’s financial inequality within the UK Government’s social security policy. However, it is vital that the UK Government does not stop here. They must also scrap the benefit cap alongside abolishing the two-child limit, as doing so would increase the number of children lifted out of poverty in the UK to 400,000, and reduce the number of children living in deeper poverty to 950,000.  

The Scottish Government also no longer needs to mitigate the two-child limit, which means there is a fresh opportunity to prioritise further measures that can lift women and children out of poverty. In our manifesto for the 2026 Holyrood election, we are calling for the next Government to create a ‘Women’s Equality Fund’ designed to provide targeted crisis financial support for marginalised groups of women, with a focus on unpaid carers, women with experience of domestic abuse, women with No Recourse to Public Funds, and disabled women. 

Yesterday’s announcement is a significant victory for us and all the women, organisations and activists who have stood shoulder to shoulder to fight this misogynistic policy. Yet, the fight for women’s financial equality must continue. We are looking to next year’s election to secure real commitments that invest in women and will transform our communities. A Scotland where women live free from poverty is possible. 

Read more in our manifesto here and join us in campaigning for women’s equality. 

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