Social Security Benefits: Polygamy
Commons · Question 98228 · Tabled 8 Dec 2025 · Department for Work and Pensions · Official record
Answered 18 Dec 2025
Question
Asked by Andrew Snowden
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefit claims in the last five years have involved individuals presenting as part of a polygamous household; and what the outcomes of those claims were.
Answer
Answered by Sir Stephen Timms, 18 Dec 2025
Polygamous households are not recognised in Universal Credit. In claims where the claimant identifies as polygamous, the first spousal couple (the two partners who have been married longest) in the relationship could form a claim as a couple. However, all...