by Alex Evans, Daily Express
EXCLUSIVE: The DWP has increased the payment for households in polygamous marriages.
The DWP has increased the amount it pays out to households with people in polygamous marriages from April.
There’s a set of circumstances in which people who are married to a husband with more than one wife (or a wife with more than one husband) can claim an additional benefits allowance – and it’s all fully legal.
There’s a set of circumstances in which people who are married to a husband with more than one wife (or a wife with more than one husband) can claim an additional benefits allowance – and it’s all fully legal.
The DWP has confirmed in its benefits uprating list that ‘additional spouses’ in ‘polygamous marriages’ are being given a 4.8% boost to their benefits from April, which would most likely be for husbands with multiple wives.
Those who are classed as an ‘additional spouse’ in a polygamous marriage and are above state pension age were in 2025-26 able to claim an additional £119.50 per week of Pension Credit or Housing Benefit, with no given limit on the number of separate additional spouses who can claim in one household, other than the overall benefits cap per household per year.
From April 2026, this has been increased to £125.25 per week per additional spouse, a 4.8% increase in line with wage growth, which is how Pension Credit is automatically increased each spring, which is another £5.75 per week, or £299 extra per year.
The rule is not new, but the amount given to second wives is still being increased each year.
Although bigamy is illegal in the UK, the act of marrying more than one person at a time – polygamy – is not illegal if the marriages took place overseas.
This is legal where a person has married multiple wives (or husbands) overseas while legally living in a country where this is legally allowed, and then moved to the UK legally afterwards.