Child Benefit payments to rise by 6.7 per cent in April - how much will you get?
Child Benefit offers financial support to households
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Child Benefit claimants will be awarded a higher payment rate later this year, as the rates are increasing by 6.7 per cent.
Many households claiming this support will welcome this rate rise as the cost of living crisis in continuing to hurt peoples’ finances.
How much is Child Benefit?
The Child Benefit rate a person gets depends on how many children they have.
The allowance currently awards parents or guardians £24 a week for their first child and £15.90 per each subsequent children.
Child Benefit rates are expected to rise in April 2024 but the High Income Child Benefit tax Charge threshold is not set to change GETTYWith the upcoming payment rate hike, households will get £25.60 per week for their first child come April.
For any additional children, parents entitled to Child Benefit will be awarded £16.95 a week for each child.
This means that parents with one child will get an extra £83.20 a year, while parents with two children will get £138.84 annually.
Who is eligible for Child Benefit?
For someone to be entitled to the benefit, they must either live with the child or be paying at least the same amount offered by Child Benefit to look after them.This includes paying for costs and expenses, such as groceries, new clothes and giving pocket money away.
Only one parent or guardian is able to claim the benefit per child, but there is no limit to how many children parents can claim support for.
Usually, children need to be aged under 16 but it possible to qualify if they are under 20 if the child stays in approved education or training.
Recently, Martin Lewis highlighted a “grossly unfair” Child Benefit tax rule in an interview with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.
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Martin Lewis probed the Chancellor over the "unfairness" of the tax charge
ITV/THE MARTIN LEIWIS MONEY SHOW LIVE Taxpayers will have to pay the pay the High Income Child Benefit Charge if they or they partner have an individual income that’s over £50,000 and either get Child Benefit or someone else living with them gets the benefit and contributes to the child’s welfare.
Due to the levy applying to individual incomes, single-income households are worse hit financially by the charge, which Mr Lewis described as “the most unfair structure possible”.
Mr Hunt accepted there was an “unfairness” in how the charge on Child Benefit applies to certain families.
He said: "All I will say is this is one of many distortions in our overcomplicated tax system that I look at when it comes to every Budget.
"There are lots of things I'd like to change. If it's affordable to do so, then I will do so, but it's too early for me to know at this stage..."