The UK High Court has ruled that the Benefits Cap on lone parents of children under the age of two is unlawful. The benefits cap places a £20,000 limit (or £23,000 in the Greater London area) on the benefits which can be claimed by those who are working less than sixteen hours per week. Speaking in the High Court, Mr. Justice Collins ruled that the cap was discriminatory against lone parents of children under two who are not eligible to receive free childcare.
The case was brought by four lone parents who argued that the cap forced single parents who frequently struggle to pay for childcare and are often in zero hour contracts into poverty. The claimants argued that they were particularly affected by the cap as they weren’t reasonably able to work, especially as free childcare is only available in some circumstances for those with children aged between 2 and 4. It was argued by the Department for Works and Pensions that the caps pursued a legitimate policy aim of incentivising parents to work so that children do not suffer from living in workless families.
Mr. Justice Collins ruled in favour of their claim and found that single parents of toddlers should have been exempted from the benefits cap. Mr Justice Collins said in his judgment that the policy visited “real misery to no good purpose” on lone parents with very young children who were subject to the cap despite there being no official requirement for them to find work. Furthermore, that it was difficult to see how it would be realistic for lone parents in such circumstances to work. Mr Justice Collins was also satisfied that Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights and that the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child could be taken into account in interpreting the ECHR. Mr Justice Collins found that Article 3 of the UNCRC was material: “In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration”. Mr Justice Collins commented that there had been no proper response to the concerns raised by the Children’s Commissioner in relation to the imposition of the cap.
The Department for Work and Pensions have announced their intention to appeal the decision. They had argued that the benefits cap incentivised work and that the sixteen-hour requirement was not too arduous to place upon single parent families. However, Mr. Justice Collins concluded that: “The evidence shows that the cap is capable of real damage to individuals such as the claimants. They are not workshy but find it, because of the care difficulties, impossible to comply with the work requirement.” The cap thus caused “real misery… to no good purpose.”
Click here for a copy of the judgement.
Click here and here for further commentary on the case.