Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to postpone the extension of the policy to provide support to a maximum of two children to new Universal Credit claimants.

The policy aims to strike the appropriate balance between support for claimants with children and fairness to taxpayers and families with children who support themselves solely through work. A benefits structure that adjusts automatically to family size is ultimately not sustainable, and parents who support themselves solely through work would not generally expect to see their wages increase simply because of the addition of a new child to their family.

There are exceptions in place to support those unable to make choices about the number of children in their household.