British officials have admitted that polygamous households, of which there are an estimated 1,000 in Britain, could be handed more money under reforms to the welfare system

Currently the British state effectively recognizes polygamous marriages by paying extra wives smaller amounts of income support in addition to the normal sum received by the husband and their first spouse. When the streamlined Universal Credit regime is introduced in 2013, this policy will be scrapped. But a House of Commons library paper admits that as an unintended consequence of this, any second or third wives in a household would be able to claim a full single person’s benefits in addition to the standard amount claimed by the husband and their first wife. So in total the polygamous family would receive more than they currently do. The report states: “Treating second and subsequent partners in polygamous relationships as separate claimants could, in some situations, mean that polygamous households receive more under Universal Credit than they do under the current rules for means-tested benefits and tax credits.” It is a criminal offence in England and Wales to be a bigamist, married to more than one person, but polygamous marriages are recognized in Britain if the weddings took place overseas. Men, usually Muslims from Pakistan, can bring one wife into Britain through the spouse visa route but further brides would have to arrive through a different immigration category. No detailed figures have been compiled on polygamous marriages in Britain. Under the existing system, polygamous husbands and their first wives can claim the standard couples’ rate for income support of £105.95 a week while second and subsequent spouses living under the same roof receive an additional £38.45. They can also claim housing benefit and council tax benefit if they reside together.