Almost 350,000 families from foreign-born households are set to benefit from new measures introduced in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s latest budget.

New analysis, based on Freedom of Information requests examining 2021 census data, has revealed that families originating from Pakistan and Bangladesh are likely to receive the largest share of additional payments.

The new bungs will be awarded to households with three or more children following Ms Reeves’s decision to abolish the two-child benefit cap.

Approximately 341,735 migrant families are now set to gain from the liberalisation, according to research by Conservative MP Nick Timothy.

Pakistan accounts for the largest group, with 59,948 families containing three or more children currently residing in the United Kingdom.

Bangladesh follows with 26,294 households, while Nigeria and Somalia contribute 22,838 and 17,407 families, respectively.

As of 2021, one-third of all families in the UK with more than three children were foreign-born. However, this was before the so-called “Boriswave” of non-EU immigration that entered Britain in the wake of the pandemic, which could mean the true figures are far higher.

In total, there are 710,882 British and foreign-born households with three or more children claiming Universal Credit.

Abolishing the cap will add £3.5billion annually to the welfare bill by 2029/30, with eligible families receiving approximately £300 extra per month for each additional child beyond their first two.

Mr Timothy, the MP for West Suffolk who previously served as Theresa May’s chief of staff, launched a scathing attack on the Government’s approach.

“You have to ask whose side this Government is on,” he said.

“They promised not to put up taxes after their first disastrous Budget, which itself broke their tax promises made before the general election.

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“Now they are actively choosing to increase welfare spending when they should be cutting it while making working families pay the price.

“And the beneficiaries, as this research shows, will disproportionately be immigrant families who have never paid into the system.”

The two-child benefit cap, originally introduced by the Tories in 2017, restricted Universal Credit and tax credit claims to a family’s first two children.

Senior figures within Sir Keir Starmer’s Government harboured concerns that removing the cap would prove politically damaging, as one senior Whitehall source explained: “There was definitely concern that Reform UK and others would highlight that and that we would be criticised for it.

“But the cap was lifted in its entirety because of internal political pressure MPs wanted it,” they said.

Meanwhile, Reform UK’s policy chief Zia Yusuf described the findings as disgraceful.

“It is obvious from the data even though a lot of it is hidden that the primary beneficiaries of the latest Labour policy will be foreign national families, many of whom are not in work,” he said.

“It is totally unfair for British families and taxpayers to have to pay for that.

“You should have to put in to take out of our system,” he told The Sun.

The Prime Minister has strongly defended the Chancellor’s benefits boosting budget, arguing it will lift 350,000 children out of poverty.

A Government spokesman said: “Overall, the proportion of Universal Credit claimants who are foreign nationals has fallen since October 2024, and we will consult on restricting migrants’ access to benefits if they are not making an economic contribution to the UK.”

The Conservatives have pledged to reinstate the two-child limit if they return to power, with leader Kemi Badenoch set to deliver a speech this week criticising what she terms “Benefits Britain.”

Reform UK has proposed lifting the cap only for working British parents whose children were born in the UK.

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