What it's worth in 2026-27
Child Benefit is paid for each child you're responsible for, usually every four weeks, until they turn 16 — or up to 20 if they stay in approved education or training. For the 2026-27 tax year the rates are £27.05 a week for your eldest or only child and £17.90 a week for each additional child. There's no cap on the number of children — the ‘two-child limit’ people have heard of belongs to Universal Credit and tax credits, not Child Benefit — and it isn't means-tested at the point of claiming: savings, your partner's job, none of it affects eligibility.
Over a year, that's £1,406.60 for one child, £2,337.40 for two, and £3,268.20 for three. Only one person can claim for each child, and the choice of parent decides who gets the National Insurance credits.
£2,337what Child Benefit pays a two-child family over a year at 2026-27 rates
The High Income Child Benefit Charge
If either you or your partner has adjusted net income over £60,000, some of the benefit is clawed back through the High Income Child Benefit Charge. The clawback is gradual: you repay 1% of your Child Benefit for every £200 of income over £60,000, which means the benefit is only fully wiped out once income reaches £80,000. Between those two figures you keep some of it.
Three details to check:
- It's individual income, not household. The charge looks at the higher earner alone. Two parents on £59,000 each — £118,000 coming in — keep every penny. One parent on £81,000 with a partner earning nothing loses it all.
- It's adjusted net income, not salary. That's your total taxable income — salary, bonus, taxable benefits like a company car, savings interest, dividends — minus things like pension contributions and Gift Aid donations. Your headline salary can be over £60,000 while your adjusted net income sits below it. Understanding your payslip helps here.
- You no longer have to do a tax return just for this. The charge has traditionally been collected through Self Assessment, but HMRC now lets employed parents pay it through their PAYE tax code instead, if they don't otherwise need to file a return.
Illustrative figures, 2026-27 rates. One parent has adjusted net income of £68,000; the family claims Child Benefit for two children, worth £2,337.40 a year.
- Income over the threshold: £68,000 − £60,000 = £8,000
- Charge rate: £8,000 ÷ £200 = 40 → 40% of the benefit
- Charge: 40% × £2,337.40 = £934.96
- Family keeps: £2,337.40 − £934.96 = £1,402.44 a year
At £68,000, opting out would give up over £1,400 a year. And because the charge is based on adjusted net income, pension contributions reduce it: in this example, enough extra gross pension saving to bring adjusted net income down to £60,000 would remove the charge entirely — the money goes into your own retirement pot instead of the clawback. Whether that is right for you depends on your circumstances; ask an accountant or a regulated financial adviser.
National Insurance credits and your State Pension
When you claim Child Benefit and your child is under 12, the claimant automatically receives NI credits — and those credits fill qualifying years on your State Pension record, exactly as if you'd been working. For a parent at home with young children, they can be the only thing keeping the record intact.
The full new State Pension is £241.30 a week and needs 35 qualifying years; each year is therefore worth roughly £6.89 a week, or about £358 a year of pension — for life, in today's money. A parent who spends five years at home without claiming loses five qualifying years: around £1,790 a year knocked off their State Pension, every year of retirement. Over a twenty-year retirement that's in the region of £35,000 Our pension reality check covers why every qualifying year matters.
Because of the High Income charge, many higher-earning families opt out of Child Benefit altogether to avoid the admin. If the parent at home isn't the claimant — or nobody claims at all — the NI credits vanish with the payments.
Claim, but opt out of payments
If the charge would claw back everything, you can claim Child Benefit but opt out of receiving the payments. It's a choice on the claim form (and reversible later). You get the NI credits — protecting the State Pension of whichever parent is looking after the children — while no money changes hands, so there's no charge to repay and no tax return triggered by it. Put the claim in the name of the parent who's at home or earning less: they're the one whose NI record needs the protection. Grandparents and other family members who regularly look after the children can have spare credits transferred to them; ask HMRC if a grandparent does the childcare while you work.
Five checks
- Expecting a baby, or recently had one? Claim as soon as the birth is registered, even if you'll opt out of payments. Claims can only be backdated three months.
- Not claiming because someone earns over £60,000? Do the sums above. Between £60,000 and £80,000 you keep part of the benefit; over £80,000, claim with payments opted out for the credits.
- Opted out years ago? You can ask HMRC to restart payments at any time — and if income has dropped (job change, parental leave, bigger pension contributions), you may now keep more of it than when you opted out.
- Is the claim in the right name? If the higher earner claims while the other parent is at home, the credits may be protecting a record that doesn't need it. HMRC has a process for transferring credits between parents.
- Check the NI record itself. Both parents can check their State Pension forecast and NI record free on GOV.UK — gaps show up clearly.
Claiming and opting out are both free, and MoneyHelper has free, impartial guidance on Child Benefit and the charge if you want a second explanation. See our guide to the big money decisions for where this sits alongside pensions and protection.