Child Benefit boost for millions of families from next week - see how payments are changing

Millions of families will see their payments rise next week. Child Benefit is currently worth £25.60 a week for your first child, then £16.95 a week for any additional child you have.

These rates are set to rise by 1.7% from April 7. This means Child Benefit will be worth £26.05 a week for your first child, then £17.25 for any additional child. Child Benefit is worth £1,354.60 a year if you have one child, plus an extra £897 for each additional child. By claiming Child Benefit, you also get National Insurance credits which count towards your state pension.

There is no limit for how many children you can claim Child Benefit for. In order to get Child Benefit, you have to be responsible for someone under the age of 16. They normally have to live with you, or you pay at least the same amount as Child Benefit toward looking after them.

You may be able to keep on claiming until your child turns 20 if they are in approved education or training. This can include A-Levels, NVQs or even home education, but it does not include university or BTEC qualifications. If two people look after a child, only one person can claim Child Benefit.

You can claim Child Benefit if you fostered a child, as long as the local council is not paying anything towards their accommodation or maintenance, if you adopted your child, or in some circumstances where you're looking after a child for a friend or relative. If either you or your partner earn over £60,000, you have to pay some Child Benefit back at a rate of 1% for every £200 you earn over £60,000.

This is known as the High Income Child Benefit Charge. When you start to earn over £80,000, your Child Benefit is effectively wiped out as you'd need to pay back 100% of your Child Benefit. This normally done by completing a self-assessment tax return every year.

However, Chancellor confirmed in her Spring Statement that families will soon have the option to report their Child Benefit payments and pay the charge directly through their PAYE tax code. You will still be able to pay the charge by self-assessment if you want to.

Myrtle Lloyd, HMRC Director General for Customer Services, said: "Extra pounds count and Child Benefit can give your household budget a boost. Claiming online or managing your Child Benefit payments via the HMRC app is quick and easy so, if you haven’t already, go to GOV.UK to start your claim today."

Child Benefit is paid on a Monday or Tuesday - so your payments will be impacted by the Easter bank holidays next month. There is a on Monday, April 21 to mark Monday. If you’re due a Child Benefit payment on April 21, you’ll receive your money on Thursday, April 17.

This is because Friday, April 18, is also a bank holiday, as this is Good Friday. Easter Sunday will fall on April 20. The amount you get paid will not change, just the date the money arrives in your account. But if you do get paid earlier, you will have to make your money last longer as you'll have a longer wait until your next payment.

Child Benefit is paid every four weeks by and is claimed by more than seven million families.

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