Child Benefit Rates 2026/27: How Much You Get per Child

For the 2026/27 tax year, Child Benefit is £27.05 a week for your eldest or only child and £17.90 a week for each additional child. That works out at £1,406.60 a year for one child and £2,337.40 a year for two children, paid every four weeks straight into your bank account.

There is no limit on how many children you can claim for, and the payment itself is not taxed. What can reduce it is the High Income Child Benefit Charge, which begins to bite once the higher earner in the household has adjusted net income above £60,000.

Key points

• Weekly rates for 2026/27: £27.05 (eldest/only child) and £17.90 (each other child).
• Annual equivalents: £1,406.60 for one child, £2,337.40 for two, £3,268.20 for three.
• Paid every four weeks, usually on a Monday or Tuesday; weekly payments are available in some cases.
• The High Income Child Benefit Charge starts at £60,000 of adjusted net income and removes the full amount at £80,000.
• Claiming and opting out of the payments still protects your State Pension record through National Insurance credits.

Child Benefit rates for 2026/27: weekly and annual

There are only two rates, and both are set UK-wide. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland use the same figures — Child Benefit is not devolved, although Scotland runs separate payments for lower-income families on top.

The rates rose in April 2026 in line with the usual annual uprating. Because payments run in four-week cycles rather than calendar months, the amount that lands in your account each time is a multiple of four weekly payments — not a twelfth of the annual figure.

Child Benefit for 2 children — and more

The arithmetic is simple: one higher rate for the eldest child, plus the lower rate for every other child you claim for.

So a family with two children receives £2,337.40 across the year, and each extra child adds £930.80. Unlike some means-tested benefits, Child Benefit has never capped the number of children in a claim.

Eldest versus other children: how the higher rate is applied

Only one child in a claim attracts the £27.05 rate, and it is the eldest child you are claiming for — not necessarily your eldest child. If your oldest has left approved education and the claim has stopped, the higher rate moves to the next child in the claim, so your total does not simply drop by £27.05.

Two further points catch people out:

• Blended families. If two adults with children from previous relationships form one household and make a single claim, only one child gets the higher rate. Where separate claims continue, each claim can have its own eldest child.
• Two people claiming for the same child. Only one person can receive Child Benefit for a child. If you cannot agree, HMRC applies priority rules based on who the child lives with.

Eligibility runs to the child's 16th birthday, and continues to age 20 if they stay in approved full-time non-advanced education or approved training. Payments stop at the end of the relevant school leaving date period unless you tell HMRC the child is staying on.

Payment dates and how the money arrives

Child Benefit is normally paid every four weeks on a Monday or Tuesday, in arrears. You can ask to be paid weekly if you are bringing up children on your own or if you or your partner receive certain income-related benefits.

• If a payment date falls on a bank holiday, the money is usually paid earlier — a Christmas or Easter payment can arrive several days ahead of schedule.
• New claims can be backdated up to three months, so registering the birth and claiming promptly matters. You can claim online or through the HMRC app via GOV.UK.
• Payments go to one nominated account. Only one person receives the money, even if both parents are named on the claim form.

The High Income Child Benefit Charge

Child Benefit itself is tax-free, but a separate income tax charge can claw it back. The High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) applies where the person with the higher adjusted net income in the household earns more than £60,000. The charge removes 1% of the Child Benefit received for every £200 of income above £60,000, so at £80,000 the charge equals the full amount.

It is based on one person's income, not the household total. Two parents earning £55,000 each keep the lot; one parent earning £85,000 with a non-earning partner loses all of it. The thresholds are the same for Scottish taxpayers, even though their income tax rates differ.

Worked example: two children, £70,000 income

1. Child Benefit received for two children: £44.95 × 52 = £2,337.40.
2. Income above the threshold: £70,000 − £60,000 = £10,000.
3. £10,000 ÷ £200 = 50, so the charge is 50% of the benefit.
4. HICBC = 50% × £2,337.40 = £1,168.70, leaving £1,168.70 of the benefit intact.

Spread across the £60,000–£80,000 band, that £2,337.40 works out at about 11.7p of extra tax for every £1 earned. Added to 40% income tax and 2% National Insurance above the £50,270 upper earnings limit, the effective marginal rate on that slice of pay is roughly 53.7% for a two-child family.

Adjusted net income is total taxable income less certain deductions, including personal pension contributions and Gift Aid donations. That is why a pension contribution can reduce or remove the charge entirely — the mechanics are set out in our guide to the High Income Child Benefit Charge.

Why it can still pay to claim when the charge applies

Even if the charge would take back everything, there are two reasons to register the claim:

• National Insurance credits. The person who claims for a child under 12 receives credits towards the State Pension. With 35 qualifying years needed for the full new State Pension of £241.30 a week, missing years matter.
• The child's National Insurance number is issued automatically before their 16th birthday off the back of a claim.

You can tick the box to claim but not receive the payments. You get the credits without triggering any charge or a Self Assessment obligation. If circumstances change — a drop in income, a career break — you can restart the payments later. Our keep claiming or opt out decision tool walks through the trade-off.

Where payments are taken and a charge is due, it is normally reported through Self Assessment by the higher earner. HMRC has been introducing a route to collect the charge through your PAYE tax code instead of a tax return.

What to do next

Work out exactly what you will keep this year with the Child Benefit tax calculator — enter your income and number of children and it shows the benefit, the charge and the net figure. If you are close to £60,000, check how a pension contribution changes the answer using the pension tax relief calculator, then sense-check your overall position with the income tax calculator.