Official Statistics

Universal Credit and Child Tax Credit claimants: statistics related to the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, April 2023

Published 13 July 2023

Coverage: United Kingdom

Main Stories

The statistics show:

• in April 2023, there were 422,000 households that had a third or subsequent child born on or after 6 April 2017, of which 409,000 households were not receiving the child element of Universal Credit or Child Tax Credit for at least one child because of the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children
• there was a total of 1.5 million children living in a household that was not receiving a child element or amount for at least one child due to being affected by the policy
• 22,000 households that had a third or subsequent child born on or after 6 April 2017 were in receipt of an exception
• the most common reason for an exception was for multiple births (16,000 or 71% of those with an exception)
• the number of households affected by the policy has increased since the first statistics were published in 2018, as more children have been born into families with two existing children

Guidance

Note that figures may not sum due to rounding.

Guidance on these statistics is available in the background information and methodology document.

Overall numbers of households affected by the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children

In April 2023, there were 772,000 households with three or more children claiming either Universal Credit (481,000) or Child Tax Credit (290,000).

Of these, 422,000 households across UC and CTC were affected by the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children (Table 1). Around 409,000 (97%) were not receiving a child element or amount for at least one child in their household. Around 22,000 households (5%) were receiving an exception to the policy.

The majority of households affected were in receipt of UC (72%). The proportion of affected households that are on UC is expected to rise over time as UC continues to roll out whereas the proportion on CTC is expected to fall.

The 422,000 households affected by the policy represents 55% of all households with a third or subsequent child claiming UC or CTC. This proportion will grow over time as more households with three or more children will include a child born on or after 6 April 2017.

Table 1: Total number of households in receipt of Universal Credit or Child Tax Credit affected by the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, April 2023

	Total	Universal Credit	Child Tax Credit
All households in receipt of UC or CTC with three or more children	771,660	481,370	290,290
Affected households (reporting a third or subsequent child on or after 6 April 2017)	421,660	305,420	116,250
Households not receiving a child element/amount for at least one child	409,050	295,620	113,430
Households in receipt of an exception	22,430	17,660	4,780

Note: UC figures are for GB only; CTC figures are for the UK; Affected households figures do not equal the sum of the two components below as there are households both not receiving a child element/amount for one child and in receipt of an exception for another child.

Overall numbers of households with an exception

In April 2023, around 18,000 households claiming Universal Credit and around 5,000 households claiming Child Tax Credit were in receipt of at least one exception (Table 2).

Across both UC and CTC, 16,000 households (71% of all those with an exception) were in receipt of a multiple birth exception. Around 3,000 households, or 13% of households with an exception, received a non-parental care exception. About 4% of households with an exception were received due to adoption and about 3,000 households (12% of households with an exception) received a non-consensual conception exception.

Table 2: Number of households in receipt of Universal Credit or Child Tax Credit with an exception to the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, by category, April 2023

	Total	Universal Credit	Child Tax Credit
Total – Households in receipt of an exception	22,430	17,660	4,780
Multiple birth	16,010	12,730	3,280
Non-parental care	2,940	2,140	810
Adoption	1,000	890	110
Non-consensual conception	2,590	2,020	580

Note: UC figures are for GB only; CTC figures are for the UK; The Total does not equal the sum of the components as there are a number of households that have exceptions in more than one category.

Households affected by the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, by work status

“In work” is defined as eligible for Working Tax Credit within the tax credit system, or in receipt of employment income within Universal Credit. 59% of claimants affected by the policy, or 249,000, are classified as in-work (Figure 1).

76,000 affected CTC claimants are in work, equating to 65% of CTC claimants affected by the policy. This is a higher proportion than those on UC, where 173,000 affected UC claimants are in work, which is 57% of UC claimants affected by the policy.

A slightly lower proportion of households with an exception are in-work (53%) compared to those without an exception for at least one child (59%).

Figure 1: Households affected by the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, by work status, April 2023

Note: UC figures are for GB only; CTC figures are for the UK.

Households affected by the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, by number of adults

50% of households affected by the policy, or 212,000, have two adults in the household (Figure 2). This is slightly more than the number of single adult households. The proportion of couples in affected households is higher in Child Tax Credit (65%) than in Universal Credit (45%). This reflects the composition of the UC population at this stage of its growth.

Figure 2: Households affected by the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, by number of adults, April 2023

Note: UC figures are for GB only; CTC figures are for the UK.

Households affected by the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, by country

Around 371,000 (88%) of UC and CTC households affected by the policy were residents in England in April 2023 (Figures 3 and 4). 25,000 (6%) were residents in Scotland and 20,000 (5%) in Wales. Around 5,000 (5% of CTC) were CTC recipients in Northern Ireland. A small number of CTC claimants (less than 1,000) were either resident abroad or their country could not be identified from the data.

Around 5% of households in England who were affected by the policy were in receipt of an exception in April 2023. About 6% of households affected in Scotland received an exception, as did 6% of households in Wales and 3% of CTC households in Northern Ireland.

Figure 3: Households affected by the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, by country, April 2023

Figure 4: Proportion of households affected by the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, by country, April 2023

Households with an exception to the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, by country and exception category

Across all countries of the UK in April 2023, households with a multiple birth were the most common type of exception, accounting for 71% of UC or CTC households with an exception in England, 71% of households in Scotland, 70% of households in Wales and 79% of CTC households in Northern Ireland (Figure 5). Given small population sizes it is not recommended to draw robust conclusions from the differing proportions of households with other types of exceptions by country, due to both rounding and the suppression of small numbers of cases. As noted earlier, in future years the numbers affected by the policy, and the numbers of exceptions, are expected to increase.

Figure 5: Proportion of exceptions to the policy in each country by exception category, April 2023

Note: A small number of households have exceptions in more than one category.

Households affected by the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, by region

There are 12 first level regions in the UK, 9 such regions in England, together with Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The London region contains the largest number of households that are affected by the policy with a total of 64,000 households being affected (Figure 6). Within GB, the North East region contains the lowest number of households affected by the policy with a total of 18,000 households affected. CTC claimants are the only households that can be affected by the policy in Northern Ireland, which consequently contains the lowest number of households affected by the policy in the UK with a total of 5,000.

The proportion of households not receiving a child element/amount for all regions lies between 96 and 98% of all households affected by the policy, with no clear disparities between regions (Figure 7). Similarly, the proportion of households with an exception lies between 3 and 7% of all households affected across all regions. Between 1 and 3% of all households affected across each region are both not receiving a child element/amount for at least one third or subsequent child, and have an exception for at least one other child.

Figure 6: Number of households affected by the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, by region, April 2023

Note: For a small number of UC households the region is not available.

Figure 7: Proportion of households affected by the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, by region, April 2023

Note: For a small number of UC households the region is not available.

Households with an exception to the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, by region and category

There are 12 first level regions in the UK, 9 such regions in England, together with Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. In line with the national picture, the most common exception across all regions is the multiple birth exception whilst the least common exception is adoption. The two regions with the largest number of households with exceptions to the policy are London and the North West (with 3,000), whereas in GB Wales has the fewest with 1,000 (Figure 8).

Figure 8: Number of households with an exception to the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, by region, April 2023

Note: For a small number of UC households the region is not available.

Overall numbers of households affected by the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, not receiving a child element/amount for at least one child, by local authority

Across the UK, the proportion of households with three or more children on Universal Credit or Child Tax Credits that do not receive a child element/amount for at least one child is 53%. For UC households only the proportion is 61%, and for CTC households only the proportion is 39%. This is because UC has a higher proportion of households with younger children than CTC households.

As of the time of publication, there are 363 local authorities in GB (in the UK there are 374 due to the inclusion of Northern Ireland), which vary largely by population. Birmingham, the largest of these, has the highest number of households with three or more children on UC or CTC, at 30,000, and also the highest number of households on UC or CTC not receiving an element/amount for one or more children, at 16,000. As a proportion of these volumes, at 52% Birmingham matches closely with the UK average.

At 60%, Hackney has the second highest proportion of households with three or more children on Universal Credit or Child Tax Credits that do not receive a child element/amount for at least one child. Hackney and the 4 other highest proportion local authorities are visible in blue in Figure 9. City of London has the highest proportion at 69%, however given the small number of UC and CTC claims from City of London it is not recommended to draw robust conclusions when comparing City of London to other local authorities.

At 44%, Oadby and Wigston has the lowest proportion of households with three or more children on Universal Credit or Child Tax Credits that do not receive a child element/amount for at least one child. Oadby and Wigston and the 4 other lowest proportion local authorities are visible in orange in Figure 9.

As figures for Northern Ireland are for Child Tax Credits only, the proportion of households with three or more children on Universal Credit or Child Tax Credits that do not receive a child element/amount for at least one child for Northern Irish local authorities (40%) are lower than for English, Scottish, or Welsh local authorities, however this is consistent with other proportions when looking at CTC households only.

Figure 9: Proportion of households with three or more children that are not receiving an element or amount for at least one child, by Local Authority, April 2023

Note: For a small number of UC households the local authority is not available.

Households affected by the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, by number of children

Out of 422,000 households affected by the policy, due to having a third or subsequent child born on or after 6 April 2017, 257,000 have three children, 109,000 have four children and 55,000 have five or more children (Figure 10).

The majority of households affected by the policy, 61%, contain three children, with 26% containing four children. The remaining 13% are households with five or more children. The proportion of three child households is lower in Child Tax Credit (51%) than in Universal Credit (65%). This reflects the composition of the UC population at this stage of its growth.

Overall, there are around 1.5 million children in households affected by the policy (Figure 11). 51% of children were in households with three children, with 29% in households with four children. The remaining 20% are in households with five or more children.

Figure 10: Number of households affected by the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, by size of family, April 2023

Note: UC figures are for GB only; CTC figures are for the UK.

Figure 11: Number of children living in households affected by the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, by size of family, April 2023

Note: UC figures are for GB only; CTC figures are for the UK.

Overall numbers of households affected by the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, by year

In the year since the last publication there has been a net increase of 52,000 households in receipt of Universal Credit or Child Tax Credit affected by the policy to provide support for a maximum two (Figure 12). UC increased by 66,000 while CTC fell by 14,000. This trend is expected as new claimants cannot apply for CTC and must instead apply for UC.

Figure 12: Number of households affected by the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children, by year

Note: UC figures are for GB only; CTC figures are for the UK; An improved methodology for UC was implemented from April 2020 onwards, and so are not comparable with prior years. For more information on the revisions to statistics see the supporting background information and methodology document.

All households in receipt of Universal Credit or Child Tax Credit with three or more children, by year

The total number of households with three or more children in April 2023, including children born before 6 April 2017, reduced from 787,000 to 772,000 households (Figure 13). Whilst the number of households with three or more children is going up in UC as expected, the overall fall in these figures is due to the reduction over the past year in CTC households with three or more children, which fell by 80,000.

Figure 13: All households in receipt of Child Tax Credit or Universal Credit with three or more children, by year

Note: UC figures are for GB only; CTC figures are for the UK; An improved methodology for UC was implemented from April 2020 onwards, and so are not comparable with prior years. For more information on the revisions to statistics see the supporting background information and methodology document.

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