Nearly 1/3 of children in Worthing are living in poverty right now. 

On 23rd July, Worthing MPs Dr Beccy Cooper and Tom Rutland voted to keep the two-child benefit cap in place. This is a cruel and morally redundant policy that consigns many children in Worthing and across the country to live in poverty through no fault of their own.

What is the cap?

• Introduced by the Conservatives in April 2017, it prevents parents from claiming universal credit or tax credit for a third child.
• Latest official figures show that 1.6 million children in the UK are living in families affected by the policy.
• 93% of impacted parents say the policy makes them less able to afford food.

Child Poverty Action Group has said that the two-child limit is the biggest driver of rising child poverty in the UK and that delaying its abolition will harm many more young lives and undercut the government’s poverty-reduction plans.

Campaigners, charities and politicians from across the spectrum have called on the new government to scrap the measure. 

What impact would removing it have?

Analysis from campaign groups shows that lifting the cap would help one million children move away from poverty, bringing 300,000 out entirely, and another 700,000 out of deep poverty. 

Can we afford it?

We know that a 2% wealth tax on assets over £10m can raise £24bn, 8 times the cost of scrapping the cap.

Tell our MPs to Scrap the Cap

Having voted to keep the two child benefit cap in the Kings Speech debate, we call on Worthing's two Labour MPs, Dr Beccy Cooper and Tom Rutland to:

1. Reverse their position and call publicly to end the two-child benefit cap
2. Publicly write to the Chancellor Rachel Reeves to ask that the cap be immediately abolished as part of her first upcoming budget