Cabinet Secretary Announces Start Date for Key Policy
The Scottish Government will effectively scrap the impact of the two-child limit from 2nd March 2026, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has confirmed.
On a visit to Busy Bees Bellfield parent and toddler group in Portobello, Ms Somerville said the introduction of the Two Child Limit Payment will mean 20,000 fewer children will be living in relative poverty in 2026-27, according to Scottish GovernmentĀ modelling.
TheĀ Scottish Fiscal CommissionĀ estimates that overall around 43,000 children in Scotland will benefit from mitigation of the two-child limit in 2026-27.
Speaking ahead of a statement to parliament on the publication of the annual report on Best Start, Bright Futures, the Scottish Governmentās child poverty strategy, Ms Somerville said:
The Scottish Government has consistently called on the UK Government to end the two-child cap. Reports suggest that they are looking at the impact it is having. But the evidence is clear and families and Scotland canāt wait any longer for the UK Government to make up its mind to do the right thing and scrap the cap once and for all.
SOCIAL JUSTICE SECRETARY SHIRLEY-ANNE SOMERVILLE
The Two Child Limit Payment will begin accepting applications in March next year. At less than 15 months from when we announced this in the Scottish budget, this will be the fastest that a Scottish social security benefit has been delivered.
This builds upon the considerable action we have taken in Scotland, including delivering unparalleled financial support through our Scottish Child Payment, investing to clear school meal debts, and continuing to support almost 10,000 children by mitigating the UK Governmentās Benefit Cap as fully as possible.
However, austerity decisions taken by the UK Government are holding back Scotlandās progress. Modelling published in March makes clear that if the UK Government act decisively on child poverty, they could help to take an estimated 100,000 children out of poverty this year.
To help tackle child poverty, we will end the two-child cap in Scotland from 2 March 2026.
— Scottish Government (@scotgov) June 17, 2025
This will help reduce the number of children living in poverty in Scotland.
Find out more: https://t.co/T0Ge9oqtCH pic.twitter.com/5z73gh2o96
Background:
- Rates of both relative and absolute child poverty were 9 percentage points lower than the UK average in 2023-24Ā (22% and 17% Scotland, 31% and 26% UK).Ā Child poverty in Scotland falls – gov.scot
- On average, households with children in the poorest 10% of households are, this year, estimated to be Ā£2,600 a year better off because of Scottish Government policies. This is projected to grow to an average of Ā£3,700 a year by 2029-30.Ā Child poverty modelling: update – gov.scot
- TheĀ Scottish Fiscal CommissionĀ has estimated the cost of the Two Child Limit Payment to be Ā£155 million in theĀ financial year 2026-2027.
