The two-child limit in Universal Credit: ended on 6 April 2026
The two-child limit on Universal Credit ended on 6 April 2026. Every child now gets a child element of £303.94 a month. What changed and what it is worth.
The short answer
The two-child limit no longer exists. It was abolished by the Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Act 2026, which received Royal Assent on 18 March 2026, and the change took effect for Universal Credit assessment periods beginning on or after 6 April 2026. From then, Universal Credit includes a child element for every child you are responsible for: £303.94 a month each in 2026/27, with one child getting £351.88 if you have a child born before 6 April 2017. A family with a third child born after 6 April 2017 gets £303.94 a month more for that child than under the old rule, £3,647.28 over a year.
DWP's own guidance says it plainly: "The 2-child limit ended on 6 April 2026. Universal Credit now pays the extra amount for every child, no matter how many children you have" (GOV.UK: Universal Credit if you have children). Budget 2026 on 28 October 2026 made no further change to it.
What the law changed
The government announced the removal in the Budget of 26 November 2025, which said "The two-child limit in the Universal Credit Child Element will be removed from April 2026" (Budget 2025, para 4.9). Parliament then legislated for it. Section 1 of the 2026 Act:
- omits section 10(1A) of the Welfare Reform Act 2012, which the Act itself labels "the two child limit", together with the power to make exceptions to it;
- removes the words in regulation 24(1) of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013 that tied the child element to the limit, so the element is now payable "for each child or qualifying young person for whom a claimant is responsible";
- revokes regulation 24A (availability of the child element where the maximum is exceeded), regulation 24B and Schedule 12 (the exceptions).
Section 1(4) says the amendments "have effect in relation to assessment periods commencing on or after 6 April 2026", and section 3(4) brings sections 1 and 2 into force on that date. Section 2 makes the same change in Northern Ireland, to the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015 and the Universal Credit Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016, from the same date. Section 1 extends to Great Britain and section 2 to Northern Ireland (s.3(1) and (2)).
Related rules went at the same time. In Great Britain, SI 2026/316, in force 6 April 2026, removed the two-child restriction from the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 (regs 22 and 23), and removed the transitional rules for people with more than two children moving to Universal Credit from tax credits, Income Support or old-style JSA. Northern Ireland has its own consequential regulations, SR 2026/68, also from 6 April 2026.
When existing claimants got the money
Universal Credit works in monthly assessment periods, and the Act applies to each assessment period that begins on or after 6 April 2026. So the first month that counted every child was your first assessment period starting on or after that date. If your assessment periods run from the 20th of each month, for example, the period from 20 March to 19 April 2026 was still under the old rule and the period starting 20 April 2026 was the first under the new one. Nothing in the Act pays arrears for earlier periods.
The change is made by the law itself for every award: the Act does not require you to make a new claim. What DWP does need is to know about every child. If a child who is your responsibility is not on your claim, DWP's instruction is to sign in to your Universal Credit account, select "Report a change of circumstances" and add the child's details (GOV.UK).
The child element in 2026/27
| Child element | Per month |
|---|---|
| First child, if born before 6 April 2017 | £351.88 |
| First child born on or after 6 April 2017, and every other child | £303.94 |
These are the amounts in the table in regulation 36 of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013 and in DWP's Benefit and pension rates 2026 to 2027.
The higher first-child rate still exists, but only for older families. The 2026 Act did not touch it. It was removed for new families from April 2017 by Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 s.14(5)(b), but that change "does not apply where the claimant is responsible for a child or qualifying young person born before 6th April 2017" (Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014, reg 43). GOV.UK puts it as an extra £47.94 a month for a first child born before 6 April 2017 (what you'll get). It is paid once per claim, not once per child born before that date.
A disabled child also attracts a separate disabled child addition, at a lower or higher rate, on top of the child element. The Universal Credit calculator does not include it.
Worked example: a family with three children
The table compares the child element for three children at 2026/27 rates with what it would be if only two children counted, as they did under the limit (assuming no exception applied).
| Family | Two children counted | All three counted (now) | Difference a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| A: all three born on or after 6 April 2017 | 2 × £303.94 = £607.88 | 3 × £303.94 = £911.82 | £303.94 |
| B: eldest born before 6 April 2017, two born after | £351.88 + £303.94 = £655.82 | £351.88 + 2 × £303.94 = £959.76 | £303.94 |
Either way the third child adds £303.94 a month, £3,647.28 a year, to the maximum award. Under the old rule, family B's two younger children were both born after 6 April 2017, so only one of them could be paid for.
The same family with earnings and rent. Take family A as a couple (one partner aged 25 or over) paying £850 a month in rent that is fully covered by the housing element, with combined net earnings of £1,800 a month. Run through the same function as our calculator:
- Maximum amount: £666.97 standard allowance + £911.82 child element + £850.00 housing = £2,428.79.
- Earnings deduction: (£1,800 − £427.00 work allowance) × 55% = £755.15.
- Award now: £2,428.79 − £755.15 = £1,673.64 a month.
- With only two children counted: £2,124.85 − £755.15 = £1,369.70 a month.
- Difference: £303.94 a month, the whole extra child element.
The earnings taper is taken off the maximum amount, so the extra child element reaches the award in full as long as the award was above zero before. If earnings were high enough to reduce the old award to nil, only the part of the extra element above that point is paid. The benefit cap does not apply in this example because the couple's net earnings are above £881 a month (GOV.UK: when you're not affected). The example assumes the whole rent is covered by the housing element, which is not always the case. To see how the taper works at other earnings, read how earnings affect Universal Credit.
What has not changed
- The benefit cap. DWP: "The rules on the benefit cap stay the same. Additional Universal Credit payments for each child will count towards the benefit cap", so a capped household may see only part of the increase, or none of it. See the benefit cap guide for the limits and who is exempt.
- Childcare costs. The childcare costs element still has two maximums in the regulation 36 table, one for one child and one for two or more children. Budget 2025 (para 4.18) announced an increase for each additional child above two; the table on legislation.gov.uk, read on 29 October 2026, and GOV.UK's what you'll get page still show only the two maximums. For help outside Universal Credit, see the Tax-Free Childcare calculator.
- Age rules. A child element is paid until the 31 August after a child's 16th birthday, or their 19th if they are in eligible non-advanced education or approved training (GOV.UK).
- Child Benefit. Child Benefit is a separate payment from Universal Credit and is claimed separately. See how to claim Child Benefit.
How the limit used to work, and Child Tax Credit
For assessment periods beginning before 6 April 2026, Universal Credit paid a child element for no more than two children, unless the child was born before 6 April 2017 or an exception applied. The exceptions were in Schedule 12 to the 2013 Regulations, under the headings multiple births, adoptions, non-parental caring arrangements, non-consensual conception, and continuation of an existing exception in a later award. Schedule 12 is now revoked, so none of those tests needs to be met any more: every child counts.
The limit also applied to Child Tax Credit, but tax credits ended on 5 April 2025 and no new claims can be made (GOV.UK: tax credits have ended). DWP describes the two-child limit as a policy "which affected Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit claimants between April 2017 and April 2026" (DWP statistics, April 2026). If you are not yet claiming, the Universal Credit claim guide covers how to start.
Frequently asked questions
Has the two-child limit been scrapped?
Yes. The Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 18 March 2026 and ended the limit from 6 April 2026, in Great Britain and in Northern Ireland. Universal Credit now includes a child element for every child you are responsible for, however many there are.
When did existing Universal Credit claimants start getting the extra money?
The Act applies to assessment periods that begin on or after 6 April 2026. Your first higher payment was for the first monthly assessment period of yours that started on or after that date, so it depends on your assessment period dates. There is no back payment for earlier assessment periods.
How much is the Universal Credit child element in 2026/27?
£303.94 a month for each child. If you are responsible for a child born before 6 April 2017, one child gets the higher first-child rate of £351.88 a month instead, which is £47.94 more. A disabled child also gets a separate disabled child addition.
Do I still need to prove an exception such as a multiple birth?
No. The exceptions (multiple births, adoption, non-parental caring arrangements, non-consensual conception) were in Schedule 12 to the Universal Credit Regulations 2013, which was revoked with effect from 6 April 2026. With no limit, there is nothing to be excepted from.
Does the benefit cap still apply to large families?
Yes. DWP says the benefit cap rules stay the same and the extra child elements count towards the cap, so if your household is capped the increase may be limited. You are not capped if, for example, you and your partner earn £881 or more a month combined after tax and National Insurance.
What about Child Tax Credit?
Tax credits ended on 5 April 2025 and no new claims can be made, so no family has a Child Tax Credit award in 2026/27. DWP describes the two-child limit as a policy that affected Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit claimants between April 2017 and April 2026.