Overview
- The two‑child limit that stopped most families claiming the child element for more than two children was removed with effect from April 6, 2026.
- The change restores the Universal Credit child element for every child in a household so both new and existing claimants can benefit without submitting a new claim.
- Child element rates reported in coverage put the payment at £333.33 a month for a first child born before April 6, 2017 and about £287.92 a month for each additional child.
- DWP says increases will be applied automatically to awards and will appear once a claimant’s next full monthly assessment period is processed, so many households should see uplifts in May or June.
- Campaigners and affected families stand to gain materially with an extra roughly £287.92–£304 per month for each previously excluded child and around 483,000 households are estimated to have been affected by the old limit.