Child Benefit

Last updated: 09/04/2025

You can get Child Benefit if you are responsible for a child or qualifying young person.

Related content

What happens to child benefit when my child is 16+?
Read more

You can get Child Benefit for each child or young person that you are responsible for. That usually means that they live with you and you take care of their day to day needs. You do not have to be their parent.

A child is someone who is under 16 years of age. A qualifying young person is someone between 16 and under 20 in full-time non-advanced, or further, education.

Only one person can get Child Benefit for each child even if you share their care with someone else.

 

How much is Child Benefit?

There are 2 rates of Child Benefit. One for your first or only child, the other for each of your other children.

Child Benefit weekly rates:

First or only child: £26.05 
Second and subsequent children: £17.25 

 

Your income and Child Benefit

Child Benefit does not affect other benefits but is taken into account for the benefit cap, so it counts towards the maximum amount of benefits you can receive.

Child Benefit can affect your income tax. If your income is more than £50,000 p/a you can get child benefit but you will pay more income tax. This is known as the High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge. If you earn more than £60,000 100% of the amount of Child Benefit you receive will be added to your income tax.

You can choose to stop receiving Child Benefit rather than pay extra income tax but getting Child Benefit protects your National Insurance record, which affects your pension. Getting Child Benefit also proves you have a child you are responsible for.

If you choose to continue receiving Child Benefit you must register for self-assessment with HM Revenue & Customs and fill in a tax return to declare the Child Benefit.

 

When does Child Benefit stop?

Child Benefit stops when you are no longer responsible for your child. That can be on 31 August after your child’s 16th birthday, when they are 16 or over and start work of 24 hours per week or more, or when they start Higher Education. However Child Benefit can continue until your child’s 20th birthday if they stay in full-time further education.

What is further education?

For more information see: What happens to Child Benefit when my child is 16+

 

How to apply for Child Benefit

You should apply for Child Benefit after you register your baby’s birth. If you cannot get an appointment at a registry office before your child is 3 months old, you can apply for Child Benefit before you register your baby’s birth.

Complete form CH2 from HM Revenue & Customs, online or print and return to the address given.

 

For more information:

Visit: GOV.uk 

Child Benefit Helpline: 0300 200 3100

Textphone: 0300 200 3103 Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm

Scottish Child Payment

If you are responsible for a child you may also be entitled to the Scottish Child Payment.

The Scottish Child Payment is £27.15 per week given to eligible families for each child under the age of 16.

See more information
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

View Privacy policy

Covering your tracks

You may not want other people to know that you’ve been searching for information or help from OPFS.

When browsing the internet whether on a mobile phone, tablet or computer, you leave a ‘history’ trail of pages and sites you’ve visited.

It’s impossible to completely avoid being tracked online but if you’re worried about someone knowing which sites you’ve been looking at, there are some things you can do to help cover your tracks.

If you’re using a laptop or desktop computer, try keeping another document or website open in a new tab or window while browsing. If someone comes in the room and you don’t want them to see what you’re looking at, you can quickly switch to another window or tab.

Deleting browsing history

You can delete the history of websites you’ve visited, but it’s important to know that if you delete your browsing history, someone else using the same device may notice.

If you share a tablet, mobile phone, laptop or computer with someone, they might notice that passwords or website addresses have disappeared from their history.

Find out how to remove your browsing history and other data from some of the most commonly used browsers:

Browsing in Private mode (incognito)

When browsing ‘incognito’, the internet browser won’t store cookies or record your browsing history on the computer, mobile or tablet.

This option is available on popular web browsers i.e. -

Toolbars

If you use a search toolbar in your web browser, remember that your searched items can be saved as part of your history. Find out how to delete your searched items from the following search engines: