Brief
Conservative minister vows to end benefits for polygamous households
The proposal, due in Parliament on Tuesday, would stop additional pension credit and housing benefit for extra spouses in polygamous families.
By Felo News Desk · Published
Kemi Badenoch, the UK work and pensions minister, said she will introduce a bill on Tuesday to end the extra welfare payments that currently go to husbands with multiple wives, according to the Daily Mail.
Under existing rules, the welfare system recognises marriages performed overseas under sharia law, allowing each spouse to claim the standard couple rate of £125.25 per week in pension credit and a further £125.25 in housing benefit. The Daily Mail calculates that a household with one husband and four wives could receive £1,504.40 per week – about £78,229 a year – which is £39,406 more than a typical couple.
The minister described the arrangement as an "outrageous" loophole that "rewards damaging cultural practices" and said the bill would "scrap this outrageous arrangement". She added that polygamy has been illegal in Britain for 400 years, but benefits are still payable when the marriage is recognised as lawful in the country where it took place.
Government sources told the Daily Mail that very few claimants come from polygamous households, noting that immigration rules have largely prevented the formation of such families since 1988. The proposal also aims to ban benefits for incestuous unions and cousin marriages, which the paper says are linked to higher disability‑benefit claims in areas with higher rates of close‑kin marriages, such as Bradford.
Key facts
- Kemi Badenoch will introduce a bill to stop extra benefits for polygamous households (dailymail.co.uk)
- Current rules allow each spouse to claim £125.25 per week in pension credit and housing benefit (dailymail.co.uk)
- A household with one husband and four wives could receive £1,504.40 per week under the existing system (dailymail.co.uk)
- Government officials say few claimants are from polygamous families, citing immigration rules since 1988 (dailymail.co.uk)
Sources
- [1] dailymail.co.uk — originally reported as “Tories pledge to end benefits loophole for polygamous families”
