OVER 5,000 children are living in households in West Belfast which are impacted by the controversial two-child limit policy, new figures reveal.
The two-child benefit cap was introduced in 2015 by the Conservatives and came into effect in 2017. It restricts the child tax credit and universal credit (UC) to the first two children in most households, and only applies to children who were born after 6 April 2017.
In a written question to Communities Minister Gordon Lyons, West Belfast MLA Gerry Carroll asked the Minister to detail the number of individual children, impacted by the two-child limit in West Belfast since its introduction.
It was revealed that as of May 2025 there are 5,170 children in impacted households and 1,860 children not eligible for the child element.
"One in three children in West Belfast live in poverty and the cruel and outdated two-child limit is a key reason why," said Mr Carroll.
"19 per cent of children living in West Belfast are impacted by this punitive policy, which is designed to punish working class families. No child is denied access to healthcare or education simply because they're born into a larger family. Social security entitlement should be no different.
"There is a colossal amount of wealth in our society. It ought to be a source of shame for all parties in power that children go to bed cold and hungry each night.
"In the upcoming budget, the Chancellor must heed the calls to scrap the two-child limit. But if Labour lets down working class communities yet again, the Executive must commit to doing what Starmer won't – mitigate the two-child limit in full, and pull thousands of children out of abject poverty."
