write to my MP about the two child limit and benefit cap

why write to my mp?

MPs make the law and they are accountable to YOU as the people they represent. Writing to them is an easy and quick way to show them that their constituents care about single parents and that they need to do something about this.

FIND YOUR MP

You can find your local MP here.

LETTER TO YOUR MP ASKING FOR the two child limit and the benefit cap to be removed

“Dear [insert MP name],

I am a member of your constituency and I am writing to you as [insert something personal here e.g. a single parent/ a single parent ally/ an adult raised by a single parent] about the impact of the two child limit and the benefit cap - two cruel policies which disproportionally impact single parents, the majority of whom are working.

4.5 million children in the UK currently live in poverty. Without urgent action this government will be the first Labour government to oversee an increase in child poverty. Scrapping the two-child limit and the benefit cap is the most cost-effective way to reduce this figure and lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty overnight, this change would be especially beneficial for single parents and their children.

Over 50% of those impacted by the two child limit are single parents, while almost 70% of those impacted by the benefit cap are single parents. This isn’t accidental, it’s by design. A single parent must earn the same as a couple combined to avoid the cap. Unsurprisingly, 50% of single parents who are benefit capped have a child aged 3 years or younger due to the high employment barriers they face. The vast majority of these are women who have often experienced significant changes in circumstances due to death, divorce and domestic abuse. These women and their children do not deserve to be punished by a policy which can see them lose out on more than £100 a week in essential financial support.  

I stand with Single Parent Rights - a national single parent led campaign group - to call on the government to scrap both these policies in the upcoming Child Poverty Strategy and the Autumn Budget.

Please use your position as my MP to hold the government to account on this.

Yours sincerely,

[insert name and postcode (your MP won’t be able to respond unless you can show you are a constituent of theirs)]”

TAKE MORE ACTIONS

Our other template letters are available on this page.