Glossary · UK
What is Child Benefit?
A universal payment from HMRC to people responsible for raising a child, paid at £27.05 a week for the eldest child and £17.90 a week for each additional child in 2026/27.
Full Definition
Child Benefit is a payment made by HMRC to anyone responsible for a child under 16 (or under 20 if the child stays in approved full-time education or training). For 2026/27 it is paid at £27.05 a week for the eldest or only child and £17.90 a week for each further child, usually paid every four weeks. Claiming Child Benefit, even at a reduced or effectively nil net amount, also protects entitlement to National Insurance credits that count towards the State Pension for a parent who is not working or earning below the NI threshold, and it automatically triggers a National Insurance number being issued to the child around their 16th birthday. Where the claimant or their partner has an adjusted net income above £60,000, some or all of the benefit is clawed back through the High Income Child Benefit Charge, an Income Tax charge equal to 1% of the Child Benefit received for every £200 of income between £60,000 and £80,000, meaning the benefit is fully withdrawn once income reaches £80,000. Because of this, many higher earners either opt out of receiving the payments while still submitting the claim (to protect NI credits) or pay the charge back via Self Assessment.
How Child Benefit is calculated
Annual Child Benefit = 52.14 x (27.05 + 17.90 x (number of children - 1))- 27.05
- Weekly rate for the eldest or only child, 2026/27 (GBP).
- 17.90
- Weekly rate for each additional child, 2026/27 (GBP).
Worked example: A family with two children receives 27.05 + 17.90 = GBP 44.95 a week, or about GBP 2,344 a year, before any High Income Child Benefit Charge clawback.