Work and Pensions Select Committee

On 18 September 2015, the committee announced that it was beginning an enquiry into the 'welfare safety net'.[10] The committee's chair, in launching the enquiry, said:

"There is a great deal of concern that some of the least advantaged people are slipping through our safety net into a state of hunger. Our welfare safety net has developed over decades because there is a level below which we as a society do not believe anyone should fall, no matter where they live. We want to understand how local councils are adapting and coping with the changes in benefits and the extra responsibilities on them to meet genuine need and maintain that basic safety net."

In 2019 the Work and Pensions Select Committee recommended ending the two-child limit on welfare payments. The committee heard evidence from charities, economists and faith groups and stated the limit had, “unintended consequences that no government should be willing to accept”. The committee stated the justification for the limit assumed all pregnancies were planned, that distinguishing between families on benefits and families in work was “crude and unrealistic”, further evidence did not support the case that the two child limit might encourage parents to increase their incomes from work. The committee argued for no significant distinction between households on benefits and those working. In April 2019, 72% of families getting tax credits were in work. In May 2019, 28% of working-age housing benefit claimants were, “in employment and not on passported benefit”. in October 2019, 33% of Universal Credit claimants were recorded as employed. Frank Field MP said, “Any family in this country, except the super-rich, could fall foul of the two-child limit if their circumstances changed for the worse. This is exactly why social security must act as a national insurance scheme covering people when they’re most exposed to hardship – not increase it.”[11]