Prof Ruth Patrick
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ruthpatrick0.bsky.social
Prof Ruth Patrick
@ruthpatrick0.bsky.social
Professor of Social & Public Policy at University of Glasgow

Perimenopausal | neurodivergent | navigating parenting kids with SEND
An easy post today, quoting the chancellor on the two-child limit "I don't think that it's right that a child is penalised because they are in a bigger family through no fault of their own,"

Kids' support should not depend on the number of siblings they happen to have www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Rachel Reeves suggests family benefit limits will be lifted
The chancellor tells the BBC children in bigger families should not be
www.bbc.co.uk
November 11, 2025 at 8:57 AM
Thanks for sharing my blog Ruth but I’m can’t take credit for calling it the worst social policy ever! That was my former York colleague and child poverty expert, Jonathan Bradshaw
November 10, 2025 at 10:21 PM
It’s just over two weeks now till the budget. Every night, parents in poverty are lying in bed, unable to sleep, worrying about how to pay essential bills. This can and must be changed. Ending the two-child limit & benefit cap is the right (indeed only) place to start m.youtube.com/watch?v=94fq...
Lying awake
YouTube video by Aaron Reeves
m.youtube.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Poverty is a policy area that is highly responsive to policy change. We know what works. In Scotland, where families on a low-income receive £26.70 per child per week, poverty rates have been falling. This contrasts to increase in child poverty everywhere else in UK blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
What Scotland’s policies can teach Westminster about fighting poverty | British Politics and Policy at LSE
The economic choices the Chancellor sets out in the Autumn Statement should be based on evidence of what works and should apply to all those needing support
blogs.lse.ac.uk
November 9, 2025 at 8:27 AM
Early advocates of the two-child limit argued it would make ppl think about how many children they can actually afford. But this presumes a static model of household income. People lose their jobs, separate & get ill & our social security system should be there to support with these income shocks.
November 8, 2025 at 8:35 AM
I want to use today's post to call for the government to abolish the two-child limit's sister policy, the benefit cap, which forces families to subsist far below the poverty line, often because of high housing costs a @nuffieldfoundation.org research has shown largerfamilies.study/publications...
Benefit changes and larger families
We are a group of university-based researchers investigating how families with more than two children are coping with the benefit cap or the two-child limit.
largerfamilies.study
November 7, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Only right that on the occasion of @cpaguk.bsky.social 60th birthday, I use today's post to share a typically forthright call from CPAG's Chief Executive Alison Garnham for the Government to scrap the two-child limit in full, published in @labourlist.bsky.social

labourlist.org/2025/11/abol...
'Labour must abolish the two child limit in full and with pride' - LabourList
Labour should abolish the two child benefit cap and do so with pride write Alison Garnham of Child Poverty Action Group.
labourlist.org
November 6, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Thank you!!! It’s been ace to be in a (very rainy) Glasgow for my birthday
November 5, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Thanks you lovely lot x
November 5, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Thank you Tom
November 5, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Thank you!!
November 5, 2025 at 2:08 PM
I do remember!! It’s terrifying how quickly time passes
November 5, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Shamefully, the stress of my everyday has led me back to smoking, a habit I quit almost 20 years ago [stopping tips, welcomed!]

I will quit & meantimes, I'll get outside whenever I can & be thankful for all the good that is in my life on this full-super moon-birthday

[End of this all-about-me-🧵]
November 5, 2025 at 9:10 AM
And while three of my four children navigate life with less support than they need, I am (of course) so thankful to have their energy, ideas and passions in my life. And would be lost without them [and my long suffering partner]
November 5, 2025 at 9:07 AM
And - while life has its challenges - the fact that I can swim, and swim often, is a constant comfort, & I've had some really special swims in my 40s so far, including this one at Labour Party Conference with the @cpaguk.bsky.social crew & @kittyjstewart.bsky.social
November 5, 2025 at 9:02 AM
I feel incredibly lucky to get to work with inspiring people on both @changingrealities.bsky.social and @safety-nets.bsky.social & to be part of pushing for real and lasting change to make social security in the UK fit for purpose.
November 5, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Back in New Labour times, we spoke about the idea that 'every child matters'. This still resonates. Each (and every) child should be at the heart of the government's child poverty strategy & only a full abolition of the two-child limit does this. Tapers don't cut it.
www.largerfamilies.study
Benefit changes and larger families
We are a group of university-based researchers investigating how families with more than two children are coping with the benefit cap or the two-child limit.
www.largerfamilies.study
November 5, 2025 at 8:54 AM
As the chancellor prepares to give pre-budget speech, want to focus on the cost of inaction on child poverty. Yes, abolishing the two-child limit & benefit cap is expensive but inaction costs much more (see vital @actionforchildren.bsky.social analysis) www.actionforchildren.org.uk/our-work-and...
Paying the price of child poverty
4.5 million children are now paying the price of poverty in the UK. Without sustained policy action, a further 400,000 children will be pulled into poverty by the end of the decade.
www.actionforchildren.org.uk
November 4, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Love this - what's the project? Knitting is ace
November 3, 2025 at 10:45 AM