Exact date DWP Universal Credit claimants will see payments rise after Budget change | Personal Finance | Finance

Universal Credit families will see a rise in their payments after a rule change announced in the Budget – here’s when the change will come into effect. This week’s Autumn Budget saw Chancellor Rachel Reeves abolish the two-child benefit cap for families on Universal Credit.

The two-child benefit cap was introduced by the Conservatives in 2017 and meant that parents could only claim universal credit or tax credits for their first two children. Families who had a third child, or more, could not receive any means-tested support. Children born before April 6, 2017, were unaffected and there were some exceptions to the rule, such as twin or triplet births and non-consensual conceptions.

The cap stopped families claiming £292.81 per month in Universal Credit for the third child or any other children born after this date. But, these rules are set to be scrapped from April 2026.

This means that a single parent with three kids will see their benefits payments rise from £20,978 a year to £24,491.

Across the country, benefits are set to rise by an average of £5,310 for 560,000 families by 2029/30. The government estimates this change will mean 450,000 fewer children are living in poverty by the end of the decade.

Some Brits have slammed the move, arguing that for a parent working on minimum wage earning £22,000 it won’t pay to work.

The government typically uses inflation figures from September to determine how much to increase benefits by, with the amount rising each April.