Conservatives propose ending extra welfare payments to polygamous households
Kemi Badenoch will introduce a bill to stop additional benefits being paid to multiple spouses in polygamous families.
A forthcoming Conservative bill seeks to eliminate the extra welfare entitlement that polygamous households receive when a husband has multiple wives married abroad under sharia law. Under the existing system, each additional spouse qualifies for a separate weekly payment of £125.25 in pension credit and housing benefit, allowing households with several wives to claim substantially more than a typical couple. Kemi Badenoch, together with MP Richard Holden, will table the legislation, which also intends to bar benefits for incestuous unions and cousin marriages.
Government officials claim the number of claimants from such households is very low, citing immigration rules that have limited polygamous family formation since 1988. Labour is predicted to reject the proposal when it is debated.
Why it matters
The bill would change how welfare funds are allocated to families formed under foreign religious marriages.
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