Education unions have added to calls for the government to scrap the two-child benefits limit in the upcoming child poverty strategy.

The strategy was originally expected in spring but has been delayed and is now due this autumn.

The controversial policy was introduced under the Conservatives in 2017, restricting child tax credit and universal credit to the first two children in most households.

In a letter to prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, the NEU teaching union, the NAHT school leaders’ union, the Association of School and College Leaders, the NASUWT teaching union, Unison and the National Governance Association have said it is “critical” to reverse the policy.

They say: “This poverty-producing policy is harming the lives of hundreds of thousands of children and young people in our classrooms, and we are calling on government to put an end to this this autumn.”

While welcoming measures introduced under Labour, including the expansion of free school meals, breakfast clubs and a cap on branded school uniform items, they say that “these measures alone won’t...significantly bring child poverty down”.

The unions say: “No child deserves to live in poverty, full stop. But the educational impact of the poverty that continues to rip through our communities and schools cannot be overstated.”

Tackling child poverty

The letter points to poverty’s “adverse impact on children’s ability to learn, with children living in low-income households doing worse on average than their peers at every milestone, and it is making it increasingly hard for educators to carry out their core roles”.

The letter concludes: “The government cannot claim an ambitious child poverty strategy while any part of this policy remains in place. We work tirelessly every day to protect children from the harms of poverty, but we come together on behalf of the teachers, school leaders, governors and support staff we represent to ask government to meet us in the middle.

“We need bold action that addresses poverty at home, to ensure all children can thrive at school.”

More than 100 Labour MPs recently signed a letter to chancellor Rachel Reeves as she prepares for the autumn Budget, urging her to scrap the two-child limit.

A government spokesperson said its child poverty taskforce would “publish an ambitious strategy to tackle the structural and root causes of child poverty”.

They added: “We are investing £500 million in children’s development through the rollout of Best Start Family Hubs, extending free school meals and ensuring the poorest don’t go hungry in the holidays through a new £1 billion crisis support package.”

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