Removing two-child benefit cap would be 'life-changing'

The removal of the two-child benefit policy would see households receive £3,500 per year for each additional child

Ending a two-child cap benefit would be "life-changing", according to a County Londonderry mum looking ahead to Wednesday's Budget announcement.

Mother-of-four Lucy Campbell from Coleraine said it would mean her family "wouldn't struggle anymore."

The Chancellor Rachel Reeves previously suggested she favours removing limits on benefits linked to family size.

With rising costs in recent years, Ms Campbell told BBC News NI she thinks about household finances constantly.

"I would go to bed and my head would still be constantly working, like what needs paid? Do I have enough for this?"

Ms Campbell said she has to decide what items her children can "do without" until she can afford them.

It could be the standard of their clothes, or if they need a new pair of trainers.

"It didn't used to be as hard," Lucy claims, "but now it's got really, really hard."

She told BBC News NI she always tries to budget her money but "it's still hard even when you learn to budget, it still takes a strain on you".

There has been growing speculation that the chancellor might use her Budget speech to scrap the cap, which currently means parents can only claim universal credit or tax credits for their first two children.

"Why are two kids worth more money than the other two?" Lucy asked.

"I don't really see how it's fair. Just because the older two were born first and they get money that the other two don't.

"It's the kids that are having to suffer but you have to try and make do with what you have."

The removal of the policy, if announced as part of the Budget on Wednesday, would see households receive £3,500 per year for each additional child.

'My kids always come first'

The 26-year-old told BBC News NI she hasn't always received benefits.

"Whenever my older three were quite young, I worked for years on and off.

"I love working, but whenever you get set back and then you can't go back out to work, it's then it really hits you. You haven't got that extra money coming in.

"Then you're having to go from working and getting a good wage to being on the benefits that you're on."

Ms Campbell said her children always come first with her often going without.

"My kids would always come first no matter what, like, but it takes a toll on you," she added.

The change could be worth £75m to families in Northern Ireland, who are more likely to benefit from the change, with larger average family size than the rest of the UK.

A 2019 House of Commons library report found that 21.4% of families in Northern Ireland have three or more children, compared to just 14.7% in the UK.