Number of Blackpool children revealed who will benefit from two child limit bill

Around 1,200 children in Blackpool are set to benefit as an historic bill to end two-child limit moves closer to becoming law.

The Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill, which aims to remove the restriction on claiming benefits for a third or subsequent child, passed its Third Reading in the House of Commons unamended yesterday( February 24), by a vote of 361 to 84.

Hundreds of thousands of children in the North West are set to benefit from extra support for their families as the bill moved forward.

The Labour Government has hauled developments as the most significant step to reduce child poverty in a generation.

In Blackpool, which includes some of the most deprived wards in the country, Government figures show that 1,210 of the resort’s 4,560 children are set to benefit.

Critics of the existing two-child limit say it has pushed hundreds of thousands of children into poverty, damaging their health, their education and their life chances.

Alongside an increased risk of obesity and mental health problems, growing up in poverty holds children back from achieving their potential.

Children growing up in poverty are less likely to do well at school – with fewer than one in four children in poverty achieving five good GCSEs – and are more likely to face unemployment, losing up to £1 million in lifetime earnings.

The Government says that, by intervening now to tackle the root causes of child poverty, it is giving thousands of children a better chance to come to school ready to learn, setting themselves up to succeed and go on to have secure, well-paid jobs.

It says that reducing the impact of poverty on children’s health, happiness and life expectancy is also vital to Britain’s future economic prosperity.

Removing the two-child limit will lift 450,000 children out of poverty in the final year of this parliament, rising to around 550,000 alongside other measures announced this year, such as the expansion of free school meals.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Pat McFadden said: “In the North West alone, an estimated 210,000 children will benefit from the lifting of the two-child limit, giving them the foundation they need to succeed in school and go on to get secure, well-paid jobs.

“Scrapping this measure is not just right thing to do, it’s an investment in a generation that will drive our economy forward for decades to come.”

The Bill will now proceed to the House of Lords.