SNP Begins Consultation on Ending Two-Child Benefit Cap in Scotland

^{Holyrood’s Scottish National Party (SNP) government has launched a public consultation on ending the two-child benefit cap in Scotland by April 2026.}

^{The cap limits the number of children for which parents can claim universal credit or tax credit to two. It was introduced in 2017 by the Conservative Government in Westminster with an aim to incentivise low-income parents into work as a route out of poverty, which research shows it has failed to do.}

^{The Scottish Social Justice Secretary, Shirley-Anne Somerville, stated that “the Child Poverty Action Group estimates that scrapping the two-child cap in Scotland could lift 15,000 children out of poverty [in Scotland]” and that “eradicating child poverty in Scotland is the Scottish Government’s top priority”.}

^{This is in contrast to the national Labour Government, which is only looking to exempt parents of under-fives from the cap or turn it into a three-child benefit cap, citing the estimated £3,600,000,000 cost of removing it entirely.}

^{Due to more robust policies undertaken by the Scottish government compared to the national government on child poverty, it is estimated that relative child poverty levels are currently ten percentage points lower than they otherwise would have been.}

^{Similarly, the Scottish government has committed to ending the controversial means-testing of the winter fuels allowance for pensioners introduced by the Starmer government as part of a drive on social security measures ahead of the Scottish Parliamentary elections in May 2026.}

^{When asked for comment, the SNP adjacent Edinburgh University Yes Society stated that this exemplified how an independent Scotland “could… create a strong social security system in the progressive nation [it] would become.”}

^{Contrasting this, the University of Edinburgh Conservative and Unionist Association said that a benefits “cap is fairer on taxpayers who … foot the bill for those on benefits,” and that “having children is to some extent a financial choice.”}

^{Edinburgh Labour Students were contacted for comment without response.}

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