From 6 April 2017 the Government will make mothers prove they were raped or sexually abused to get benefits for a third child.
Rape will be the main exception from the UK's two child policy which now applies to low income families who claim tax credits, universal credit, or housing benefit. It will also apply in some areas for council tax support or reduction. In general there will be no extra money for a third or subsequent child born from 6 April 2017. That will apply to new claims and existing claimants.
The standard maximum amount for each child in tax credits or universal credit in 2017/18 is £2780 a year. So parents with a child who is subject to the new rule will get nothing rather than £2780. There will be some exceptions.
Rape
The most controversial exception to the two child rule is for a child born as a result of rape. The mother will be able to claim benefit for the third or subsequent child born from 6 April 2017 if she applies for the exception on grounds of rape and proves that the child was the result of rape or sexual abuse.
To do that she will have to talk to a social worker, doctor, or nurse and describe what happened and when.
A policy document issued – slipped out some say – on the day of President Trump’s inauguration explained the procedure. A mother claiming this exception would have to “engage with a professional third party” who would provide “Evidence…demonstrating that the claimant’s circumstances are consistent with those of a person who has had intercourse without consenting to it (at a time when the conception of her third or subsequent child might have resulted).”
The Department for Work and Pensions would then decide whether to grant the exception or not.
The exception would also apply if there had been a conviction or a criminal injuries compensation payment for the rape.
The Government ignored what it admitted were many responses to the consultation which said "it was unacceptable for Government to ask women to re-live the ordeal of a rape just in order to make a claim for benefit.” It also dismissed “concerns around the mental health impact on victims and pre-conceived perceptions of what a victim should look like.”
The Government also decided that it would include in the rape exception children born as a result of "coercion and control" in a domestic setting. But only if the victim stopped living with the alleged father. “Rather than financial support through benefits for those who do remain with the perpetrator, we think other forms of victim support are more appropriate.”
Twins and multiple births
If someone has one child and
then has twins they will get money for both the twins, even though one of them is a third child. But if they have two children
already then twins born from 6 April 2017 will have to survive on the money given for their two
older siblings. In other words, each child will have half the money it would get if the new additions had been born before 6 April.
Care
Children adopted from local authority care are exempt from the two child policy as are children living long term with family or friends who would otherwise be in local authority care.
Universal Credit
Universal credit is only available to parents with children in a very few areas - called full service areas. Until November 2018 anyone with a third or subsequent child born from 6 April 2017 who claims universal credit will be directed to claim tax credits instead. Those already on universal credit who have a third or subsequent child from April 2017 will get no extra for it.
Child benefit
These intrusive questions and complex rules will not apply to better off parents who claim child benefit where the means test starts much higher – at £50,000. Those parents will continue to get money for every child including those born from 6 April 2017.
Family premium
Another separate cut in the money given to families also begins on 6 April 2017. Parents making a new claim from this date will not get the extra payment of £545 a year previously paid for the first child. Nor will it be paid for a first child born after 6 April 2017. Family premiums were abolished for housing benefit from 1 May 2016 and for council tax support and reduction schemes from April 2016 in some areas.
Austerity bites. Particularly on families with children.
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6 April 2017
