Children and childcare
Child Benefit rates this year, and how the money is paid
Two weekly rates, one higher rate per household, and a few rules that decide which children count.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
From 6 April 2026 Child Benefit pays £27.05 a week for the eldest or only child and £17.90 a week for every other child, up from £26.05 and £17.25 in 2025/26, according to HMRC’s rates table. A family with two children therefore receives £44.95 a week, or £179.80 in each four-weekly payment, and a family with three gets £62.85 a week. There is no cap on the number of children. The money normally arrives every 4 weeks on a Monday or Tuesday, though single parents and people on certain benefits such as Universal Credit can ask for weekly payments. A child counts until 16, or until 20 if they stay in approved full-time education or training that began before they turned 19. A new claim can be backdated by up to 3 months, so it pays to claim soon after the birth or after a child moves in with you.
Child Benefit for your family in 2026/27
Every 4 weeks
£179.80
| A week | £44.95 |
| A year (52 weeks) | £2,337.40 |
| More than in 2025/26 | £85.80 a year |
Rates for 2026/27 and the two previous years
HMRC sets two weekly amounts each tax year. The higher one is paid once per household, for the eldest child; every other child gets the lower one. The three most recent years are below.
| Tax year | Eldest or only child | Each other child |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 to 2027 | £27.05 | £17.90 |
| 2025 to 2026 | £26.05 | £17.25 |
| 2024 to 2025 | £25.60 | £16.95 |
The increase this April was £1.00 a week on the eldest-child rate, or about £52 over a year, in line with the September 2025 Consumer Prices Index of 3.8 %. Over two years the eldest-child rate has gone from £25.60 to £27.05.
What a family of each size receives
| Children | A week | Every 4 weeks | A year (52 weeks) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | £27.05 | £108.20 | £1,406.60 |
| 2 | £44.95 | £179.80 | £2,337.40 |
| 3 | £62.85 | £251.40 | £3,268.20 |
| 4 | £80.75 | £323.00 | £4,199.00 |
| 5 | £98.65 | £394.60 | £5,129.80 |
| 6 | £116.55 | £466.20 | £6,060.60 |
A year here means 52 weeks. Because payments fall every four weeks, thirteen of them land in most tax years, but the calendar occasionally fits a fourteenth into the same year, which explains a bank total slightly higher than the table.
Which child gets the higher rate
The higher rate follows the eldest child in the household, not the eldest child of a particular parent. When two families join, the oldest of all the children living together carries the £27.05 rate and the rest move to £17.90, even if each adult was receiving the higher rate before the move. Partners can claim for different children, but they cannot both keep the higher rate while living together; HMRC can recover the difference if they do. Report the move to the Child Benefit Office.
When a family splits, the reverse happens. A parent with one child at home and an ex-partner with another child at home each get £27.05, because each child is now the eldest in their own household. You count as responsible for a child who lives with you, or for one living elsewhere if you pay at least the amount of Child Benefit towards their keep, in money or in kind. GOV.UK sets out these household rules.
When a child turns 16
Child Benefit stops on 31 August on or after the 16th birthday unless you tell HMRC that your child is staying on. It then continues while they are in full-time non-advanced education, meaning more than 12 hours a week on average of supervised study, or in unpaid approved training. A levels, T levels, GCSEs, Scottish Highers, most qualifications up to level 3 and home education qualify. A university degree, an HNC or HND, or an apprenticeship does not. The child must have been accepted onto the course before turning 19, and payments end at the latest when they reach 20.
A 16 or 17-year-old who leaves and registers with the careers service or the armed forces can keep the family’s Child Benefit going for 20 weeks, as long as you apply within 3 months of them leaving. Payments also stop if the young person starts work of 24 hours a week or more outside education, starts an apprenticeship in England, or claims Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance in their own right. The GOV.UK page on children over 16 lists the qualifying courses.
Claiming and backdating
You can claim 48 hours after registering a birth, or as soon as a child comes to live with you, including during an adoption before it is finalised. Claims go online through GOV.UK, by post or by phone, and HMRC can backdate the payments by up to 3 months from the date of claim, a limit set by regulation 19 of the Claims and Payments Regulations. A family that waits six months after a birth to claim loses at least three months of payments: around £351.65 for a first child. Claiming without the birth certificate is possible but slower.
Whoever claims receives National Insurance credits while the child is under 12. In a couple where one partner stays at home, that partner should usually be the claimant, so that the credits fill their State Pension record. If the claimant does not need them, because they already pay National Insurance through work, a partner can apply to transfer the credits, and a grandparent or other relative who looks after the child can apply for Specified Adult Childcare credits instead.
Child Benefit and other support
Universal Credit ignores Child Benefit as income, so the two are paid in full side by side, subject only to the benefit cap. In Scotland, families on Universal Credit can add Scottish Child Payment of £28.20 a week for each child under 16, a figure larger than the Child Benefit rate itself. Kinship carers looking after an orphaned child may also get Guardian’s Allowance. To see the effect of the tax charge on your own figures, the Child Benefit calculator takes the number of children and the higher income in the home.