The statistics show:
in April 2025, 469,780 Universal Credit households were affected by the two child limit policy: that is, they had a third or subsequent child born on or after 6 April 2017. This was an increase of 13,520 (3%) from the total number of households affected on either Universal Credit or Child Tax Credit in April 2024. There were 1,665,540 children living in the households affected in April 2025, an increase of 37,150 (2%) from the total number of children living in the households affected on either Universal Credit or Child Tax Credit in April 2024
there were 453,600 Universal Credit households that were not receiving the child element for at least one child because of the policy, with 1,613,980 children living in these households
26,300 households had an exception to the two child limit policy. The most common reason for an exception was for multiple births, accounting for 17,730 households (or 67% 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 since 6 April 2017 into families with at least two existing children
Child Tax Credit closed in April 2025, which means the two child limit policy now only applies to Universal Credit. Therefore, there are no new statistics for Child Tax Credits in this publication