You can claim Child Benefit if you are responsible for looking after a child under the age of 16, or if they are under the age of 20 and still in approved education or training
Millions of families will see their Child Benefit payments rise from next April.
The majority of benefits rise in line with the September rate of inflation, which was last week confirmed to be 3.8%. Child Benefit is currently worth £26.05 a week for your first child, then £17.25 a week for any additional child.
This means Child Benefit rates look set to increase to £27 a week for your first child, and £17.90 a week for any additional child. This will be subject to Parliamentary approval. Child Benefit is paid every four weeks by HMRC.
You can claim Child Benefit if you are responsible for looking after a child under the age of 16, or if they are under the age of 20 and still in approved education or training.
The child normally has to live with you, or you pay at least the same amount as Child Benefit toward looking after them, in order for you to claim the payments.
You can claim Child Benefit if you fostered a child, as long as the local council is not paying anything towards their accommodation or maintenance, if you adopted your child.
You may also be entitled if you’re looking after a child for a friend or relative. There is no limit for how many children you can claim Child Benefit for, but if two people look after a child, only one person can claim Child Benefit.
If you, or your partner, are on a high income, then you may have to pay back some of your Child Benefit back.
If either of you earn over £60,000, you have to pay back 1% of your Child Benefit for every £200 you earn over £60,000. This is known as the High Income Child Benefit Charge.
Once you earn over £80,000, you pay back 100% of your Child Benefit. You can pay the high income charge through self-assessment or through your PAYE tax code.
Child Benefit is claimed by more than seven million families. It comes as an estimated 500 families missed out on Child Benefit they were entitled to.
You could be owed money if you were the parent of a child aged between 16 to 19 who continued their education or training outside of regular schools between April 2014 and August 2025.
The correction exercise is expected to cost £1million, with families potentially owed £2,600 each. HMRC expects to have issued all the payouts by October 2026.