How much is Child Benefit?

The Child Benefit rate a person gets depends on how many children they have.

The allowance currently awards parents or guardians £24 a week for their first child and £15.90 per each subsequent children.

With the upcoming payment rate hike, households will get £25.60 per week for their first child come April.

For any additional children, parents entitled to Child Benefit will be awarded £16.95 a week for each child.

This means that parents with one child will get an extra £83.20 a year, while parents with two children will get £138.84 annually.

Who is eligible for Child Benefit?

For someone to be entitled to the benefit, they must either live with the child or be paying at least the same amount offered by Child Benefit to look after them.

This includes paying for costs and expenses, such as groceries, new clothes and giving pocket money away.

Only one parent or guardian is able to claim the benefit per child, but there is no limit to how many children parents can claim support for.

Usually, children need to be aged under 16 but it possible to qualify if they are under 20 if the child stays in approved education or training.

Recently, Martin Lewis highlighted a “grossly unfair” Child Benefit tax rule in an interview with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.