On 6 April 2026, the UK government scrapped the two-child limit on Universal Credit. If you have three or more children and receive UC, your payments should now be higher. Here's exactly what changed, who benefits, and what to do if your payments haven't updated.
Value per child
Per year for each previously excluded child
Families affected
Households expected to benefit in 2026/27
Average gain
Per year for affected families on average
In effect from
2026 — already applies to your claim
Introduced in April 2017 by the Conservative government, the two-child limit meant that families receiving Universal Credit could only claim the child element — a per-child support payment — for their first two children. Any third or subsequent child born after 6 April 2017 was simply excluded. The money didn't exist for them.
The child element is worth £303.94 per month per child — or £3,647 per year. For a family with three children affected by the cap, that was £3,647 a year they were entitled to nothing for. For a family with four children, £7,294. The policy affected around 480,000 households and roughly 1.5 million children at its peak.
It was one of the most criticised welfare policies of recent years. 59% of affected families had at least one parent in work. 68% had a child under 5. It wasn't a policy targeting unemployed large families — it was hitting working parents who happened to have three or more children.
The two-child limit has been completely abolished. From 6 April 2026, Universal Credit pays the child element for every child in your household, regardless of how many you have. There is no longer any distinction between first, second, third or fourth children for the purposes of the UC child element.
This applies to both new and existing claims. If you were already on Universal Credit and had a third or subsequent child excluded under the old rules, your claim should update automatically.
Already on Universal Credit? You don't need to make a new claim or do anything proactively. DWP should update your award automatically from your first assessment period starting on or after 6 April 2026. Check your next UC payment — it should be higher by £303.94 for each previously excluded child.
Examples — monthly UC increase from April 2026
These are the amounts for children born on or after 6 April 2017 who were previously excluded. Children born before that date were never subject to the limit and were already receiving the child element.
The separate Benefit Cap remains in place. This limits the total amount of benefits a household can receive to £22,020 per year outside London (£25,323 in London) for families. Around 70,000 families will not see the full increase because their total UC would exceed the cap.
Importantly, families where someone is disabled or seriously ill are exempt from the Benefit Cap. If your household includes a disabled person receiving certain benefits, the cap doesn't apply and you should receive the full increase.
If you're working, you're also more likely to be exempt — the cap doesn't apply if you or your partner receive Working Tax Credit, or if your UC includes the childcare costs element.
DWP said claims would update automatically, but the update happens at the start of your next assessment period after 6 April — so depending on when your assessment period runs, you may not see the change until May 2026.
If you've had your May payment and it still hasn't increased, log into your Universal Credit account and check your to-do list or send a message through your journal asking why the child element hasn't been added for your third or subsequent child. Be specific — mention the date the cap was abolished and the child's date of birth.
Note if you were on tax credits: All legacy benefits including Child Tax Credit ended on 31 March 2026. If you haven't yet moved to Universal Credit, you'll need to make a new UC claim to access support going forward — including the now-uncapped child element.
If you're on Universal Credit with three or more children, it's worth running through our entitlements tool — the UC childcare element, free hours, and Child Benefit calculations are all based on your current situation. The tool now flags the two-child cap abolition for larger families on UC.
The tool calculates everything available to your family — UC childcare, free hours, Child Benefit, Free School Meals and more — based on your specific situation.
Check my entitlements →