THE “deeply harmful” benefits cap must be scrapped as it leaves families with just £44 to live on a week after paying rent, a children's charity said.

Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) said the measure “trapped” 250,000 children in deep poverty as it released its shock findings ahead of its “unhappy” 10th anniversary today.

Its analysis found a lone parent with three children has to cover all non-housing costs on £44 per week in some areas of London, despite the cap being higher in the capital.

The group added that while “nowhere fares as badly as London, it is clear that capped families all across the country can be left with very little after paying their housing costs," with its research showing a lone parent with three children was left with £106 after housing costs in Guildford, £147 in Brighton and Hove, and £170 in Oxford.

CPAG chief executive Alison Garnham said: “No family should have to live on £44 a week.

“There is no rhyme or reason to the benefit cap and it is deeply harmful to children.”

The CPAG said removing it would “substantially reduce the depth of poverty for the 250,000 children currently living in households affected by the cap without harming work incentives.”

Doing so “would only cost £300 million, 0.1 per cent of the total amount spent on social security,” it added.

Ms Garnham accused the government of being “at its most illogical” with the benefit cap after government-commissioned research in April found nine in 10 of those affected by it did not move into work.

“So needs don’t get met, entitlements aren’t paid and 250,000 children are trapped by the cap in deep poverty,” she added.

“All political leaders must commit to scrapping it before it pulls more children into its net.”

The cap was hailed as a way of “restoring fairness to the welfare state” when it was introduced by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government.

The introduction of the cap saw claimants spending less on their children and essentials such as heating and food, the government-commissioned report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies said.

It comes after separate research by Save the Children found Britain's poorest are paying up to £5,600 more a year due to the cost-of-living crisis. 

The TUC last month called for more money in the pockets of working families after the figures showed large families on low incomes had been the hardest hit by the rising costs.

Analysis by the union body also found that pay rises for the top 10 per cent of earners were far higher than for the rest of the work force.

The latest government figures, published in June, showed that some 97,000 households across much of Britain that had their benefits capped included children.

The total number of capped households increased by 3 per cent in the latest quarter, according to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) statistics.

This means there were 2,900 more households subject to the benefit cap across England, Scotland and Wales as of February 2023 compared with November 2022.

Around 114,000 households had their benefits capped as of February and 86 per cent of these included children.
Seven in 10 households that had their benefits capped are single-parent families, the DWP said.

Children’s Society head of policy and research Sarah Wayman told the Morning Star: “Eradicating the ‘deeply harmful’ benefit cap isn’t merely a policy change, it's an urgent act of compassion and decency.

“We’re talking about some families who, after paying rent, have less than £50 to make ends meet every week.

“These are not mere numbers; these are children’s lives framed by unnecessary hardship.

“This isn’t about giving away more, but about ensuring we are not taking away the basics. Because every child deserves a life defined by possibility, not by struggle.”

Imran Hussain, director of policy and campaigns at Action for Children, said: “The benefit cap blocks our most disadvantaged children from getting the help the state safety net says they need as a minimum. It causes immense harm by unjustifiably pushing struggling families deeper into poverty.

“We know the cap overwhelmingly affects families with children, especially single parents and those living in areas with high housing costs such as London and the South East. Its main effects are families cutting back on essentials, borrowing money and falling behind on bills.

“Our analysis shows that if the government abolished the benefit cap and increased the child element of universal credit by £15 a week, it would lift nearly 320,000 children out of poverty altogether – at a cost of £4 billion a year.

“These are affordable reforms that would have a huge impact on children living in the misery of poverty – helping them have a chance at safe and happy childhoods and a brighter future.’”

A government spokesman said it was comitted to protecting the most vulnerable, which is why it has increased the benefits cap in line with inflation and is “providing record financial support worth around £3,300 per household.”