Benefits: two-child cap hurts Muslim families most

Muslim families are being hurt more by the two-child cap on benefits than those of other religions.

The two-child cap has been slammed for “disproportionately affecting” Muslims, who are more likely to live below the breadline and have bigger families.

Almost half of all kids (46%) from large families live below the breadline, with this figure growing if you belong to a religious minority.

Impact on Muslims

The majority (60%) of Muslim families have at least three dependent children, more than any other religion.

Muslim Census says 50% of Muslims live in poverty, while data from the national census shows that almost half (46%) of Muslims live in ten of England’s most deprived local authorities. And analysis by the Muslim Council of Britain says Muslims count for more than a fifth of the population in eight of those areas.

They’ve described the benefit cap as “an unfair policy that disproportionately affects families in low socio-economic groups, including Muslims” adding that it’s the children – not their parents – who “bear the brunt of this policy”.

They say: “Child poverty, which is already high in some Muslim communities, has damaging lasting impacts on children’s health and wellbeing.”

What is the two-child cap?

The two-child cap means you can only get support for two children if you get universal credit or tax credits. It doesn’t apply to child benefit.

It’s been controversial since it was introduced in 2017 because it’s claimed it pushes children further into poverty and discriminates against women, and ethnic and religious communities.

The cap means you can usually only get support for two children, though there are a few exceptions, such as if your kids were born before 6 April 2017, you had twins or triplets, or if your child was conceived non-consensually – another point of contention.

‘An unfair policy…’

The benefit cap been criticised for pushing as many as 1.6 million vulnerable children further into poverty (about 12% of UK kids) this year – and the situation’s expected to get worse.

Child Poverty Action Group says abolishing the limit would immediately lift 250,000 kids out of poverty and improve life for another 850,000.

Without reform, a further 670,000 children will be affected by the end of the current parliament.

We believe scrapping the two-child cap would be one of the most cost-effective ways of reducing child poverty in the UK, which is why we’re calling for the government to act now.