Trussell

❗ Families are having to choose between putting the heating on or food on the table. Parents are skipping meals. People are terrified of rising bills.

It's so wrong. We desperately need a social security system that protects us when we need it most.

But we need your help to do this.

Email your email now and urge them to call on the Chancellor to fully remove the two-child benefit cap ⤵️
action.trussell.org.uk/tell-your-mp...

Fully removing the two-child benefit cap is the most effective way to support struggling families.

It would lift 470,000 children out of severe hardship.

That’s a no brainer, isn’t it?!

In practice, that means families lose about £3,200 per year, per child.

That means a family with 3 kids could be missing out on over £60 a week – that’s money parents need to pay for food, nappies and supplies for school.

We all know how quickly life changes.

Families who were getting by fine raising 3 kids, but suddenly get sick or made redundant, are being left with no option but to turn to a food bank.

The two-child limit penalises families for having kids when they were financially stable.

❗️3.8 MILLION children are facing hunger in the UK.

And the biggest driver? The two-child benefit cap.

This cruel policy restricts support for families on a low income to their first 2 kids.

Cutting disability support doesn’t help disabled people into work.

Disabled people need accessible jobs and compassionate support 💚

Food banks provide help when people need it most. But real change means ending the need for them altogether.

Repost if you agree 💚

In the last 5 years...
🔥 Gas has risen by 67%
🥫 Food by 37%
⚡ Electric by 51%

But average earnings have risen by JUST 34%.

A photo of a man in a wheelchair speaking to a woman. Text reads: Most of us will need the benefits system at some point. So it should treat us with dignity and respect. Stop the stigma. Fix the system. Turn2us logo.

🚨 Today we at @turn2us.org.uk are in parliament to launch our new report and campaign to #StopTheStigma and fix the system.

Almost all of us will need our social security system at some point in our lives, but our society's distrust of claimants has been baked into its policies and practice...(1/6)

Yellow graphic about the cruel two-child limit. It shows two photos: one of a dad reading to two young kids, and a photo of a dad helping a toddler walk. A red cross is over the toddler image, suggesting a lack of support for a third child. Text on top reads: 'Born third? No support. The two-child limit punishes kids for having siblings.'

❗ More children are being pushed to food banks each day because of the two-child limit.

No child should know what a food bank is, let alone need one.

Ask your MP to write to the Chancellor to remove the two-child limit now 👉 bit.ly/4ovyIAj

Keir Starmer speaking in the UK House of Commons, with a news overlay caption urging the government to end the two-child limit to alleviate child poverty. Headline reads: Breaking news. End the two-child limit to lift 470,000 children out of poverty, government urged

🚨 NEW: Ending the two-child limit would lift 470,000 children out of severe hardship.

It’s the simplest way to protect families from needing to turn to food banks just to survive.

Email your MP to call on the Chancellor to end this cruel policy 👉 https://bit.ly/4ovyIAj

6. Being able to afford a coffee with friends or a chocolate bar for the kids.

When you can’t even afford food, small joys or treats can be simply unaffordable. This is leaving people feeling isolated and lonely, and parents feeling constant guilt.

5. Having a support system: family and friends who can support you, and a community you can reach out to.

When something unexpected happens, a friend or family member might be able to help you. But if they don’t have enough money themselves, you are more likely to face hunger.

4. Not having to make decisions about which essentials to go without.

People on the lowest incomes are having to make impossible decisions between the things they need to survive: do I skip dinner so the kids can have a bath? Do I go without heating so I can fix the washing machine?

3. Being able to afford the very essentials you need to survive.

Putting food on the table, sticking the heating on, running a bath for the kids, getting the bus to a job interview, buying toiletries like tampons and shampoo.

These are things we ALL need.

2. Being able to afford internet.

Searching for jobs, applying for Universal Credit, paying bills, even googling for information – so much is online. And it’s a place to connect with loved ones.

Not having internet cuts you off and means you miss out on opportunities.

1. Having enough money to be able to walk away from something toxic: relationships, jobs and living situations.

People on the lowest incomes are getting trapped into dangerous situations because they don’t have a safety net. Leaving could mean facing hunger and homelessness.

❗ Some essential things that we all need to live decent lives, but too many people are sadly going without.

A thread...🧵

A screenshot of a notes app on iPhone. It reads: The two-child limit pushes 109 children into poverty EVERY DAY. Families are living in cold, unsafe homes, parents are skipping meals, families are terrified about how they'll pay the bills. The solution is to end the two-child limit. Email your MP now

❗ The two-child limit is pushing families to food banks.

This policy is cruel. And it's time to end it.

Email your MP to call on the Chancellor to end the two-child limit 👉 https://bit.ly/4ovyIAj

Parents under the two-child limit aren’t asking for luxuries.

They’re asking:
- Which child will get new school shoes?
- Do I put the heating on or food on the table?
- Can I just have a cup of tea for dinner tonight so the kids can eat instead?

This #WorldFoodDay here's a stark reminder of how much the price of food has risen in the UK in the last 5 years...

❗️You wouldn’t turn away a sick child from the hospital or stop them going to school.

Yet the two-child limit denies families the support they need to survive.

Image shows Rachel Reeves standing in front of a UK flag, with a headline about urging an increase in housing benefit to address homelessness. It reads: Reeves urged to boost housing benefit in Budget as thousands 'face homelessness'

📈 Rents are soaring...

📉 but housing support isn't keeping up.

This is leaving people facing homelessness, or living in cold, mouldy, unsafe homes.

It's so wrong. We're calling for urgent action to properly support people to access the homes they need. 💚

This is how much the price of having a child has shot up in the past 5 years...🤯

🤱 Cost of parenting: +70%
🌈 Nursery costs: +20%
🧸 Toys and games: +9%
🍦 Cost of an ice cream: +42%

A woman looks out a glass door in her kitchen. She is on the phone and looks concerned. A news headline is on top that reads: 'Our mouldy rental home left us feeling like we didn't have a future'

No one should have to live in a mouldy home.

But the price of rents has absolutely shot up in the last 5 years, and Clare’s experiences are sadly all too common.

This isn’t right. Everyone should be able to access warm, safe and affordable housing. 💚

Over HALF of people turning to food banks are struggling with a mental health problem.

Worrying about money isn't just numbers. It's the sleepless nights, stress and emotional toll that comes with facing hardship.

#WorldMentalHealthDay

Screenshot of a comment on Trussell's TikTok: 'Get a job?'

We see comments like this all the time.

But the thing is, lots of people who need food banks HAVE JOBS.

Bills are rising, rent is sky-high – and wages just don’t cover it all. Even when income is topped up by Universal Credit, people still don’t have enough money to survive.

Save the Children UK have put a campaign message on a huge billboard opposite Liverpool Lime Street to greet MPs as they arrive to the Labour Party Conference. The billboard shows a photo of a child holding up a red rosette with the words 'change' on it. Text on top reads: 'Wasn't the point of winning to lift kids out of poverty? Scrap the two-child limit. Save the Children.'

Every day the two-child limit pushes 109 children into hunger.

The UK gov PROMISED to end the need for emergency food.

So we're backing@savechildrenuk.bsky.social to greet MPs to the Labour Party Conference with a message they cannot miss. 👀

As they arrive at the Labour Party Conference, we're greeting Keir Starmer and his MPs with a message that demands a screen bigger than 21,000 mobile phones*:

"What was the point of winning the general election if not to lift kids out of poverty?"

1/3