A COALITION of 120 children’s charities today called for the complete eradication of child poverty in 20 years, increasing pressure for government to scrap the two-child benefit cap.

The End Child Poverty Coalition set out eight tests it said should be met by the government’s taskforce strategy if it is to succeed in tackling and ending child poverty.

Among them was that government must ultimately aim to halve child poverty in the next 10 years, and completely eradicate it in the next 20.

The coalition also said the two-child limit to benefit payments must be scrapped, estimating this could immediately lift around 300,000 children out of poverty, and that “further fundamental reform” to the social security system is needed.

The taskforce is set to publish its plans to tackle the issue in the first half of 2025.

Urging ministers to publish their plans in the spring, the charities called for legally binding targets as part of a Child Poverty Act, holding all governments in Britain accountable for “real progress.”

They also called for tailored support for children and families most likely to experience poverty.

End Child Poverty Coalition chair Joseph Howes said: “Child poverty is a blight on our society and is also completely avoidable.

“If the government is serious about tackling and ultimately eradicating child poverty in this country, it needs to be bold and ambitious in its investments, including immediately scrapping the two-child limit to benefit payments.

“Our coalition’s eight tests offer a clear pathway to ensuring no child grows up in poverty, and we will continue working so that next year’s Child Poverty Strategy includes the right actions.”

Figures published in March this year showed the number of children living in poverty across Britain had hit a record high, at an estimated 4.33 million children in households in relatively low income after housing costs, in the year to March 2023.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has been under pressure to scrap the two-child limit since he came to power in July.

The Tory policy restricts child tax credit and universal credit to the first two children in most households.

Seven Labour MPs were suspended after backing a Commons vote on scrapping it.

A government spokesperson said: “No child should be in poverty — that’s why our ministerial taskforce is developing an ambitious strategy to give children the best start in life.”