Child Benefit Calculator
Calculate child benefit amount including high income child benefit charge taper for earnings over £60,000
Child Benefit Payment
Weekly
£40.85
Annual
£2,124
Monthly
£177.02
Payment Structure
First child: £24.50/week. Each additional child: £16.35/week. Paid every 4 weeks.
2026/27 rates. You must register to receive Child Benefit. Check entitlement conditions apply. See gov.uk for full details.
How Much Child Benefit Will You Receive in 2026/27?
Child Benefit pays £26.05 per week for your first or only child and £17.25 per week for each additional child in 2026/27. A family with two children receives £43.30 a week, or £2,251.60 a year, paid every four weeks. A family with three children receives £60.55 a week, or £3,148.60 a year. Payments continue until your child turns 16, or 20 if they remain in approved education or training.
You only receive Child Benefit if you claim it. Many higher-earning parents skip the claim because of the tax charge described below, but doing so means missing out on National Insurance credits that protect your State Pension entitlement. The fix is to claim Child Benefit but tick the box opting out of payment. You keep the credits, you avoid the charge, and you can opt back in if your income falls.
The High Income Child Benefit Charge
From April 2026 the HICBC threshold rose to £80,000 (up from £60,000), with the charge tapering to 100% by £100,000. Between £80,000 and £100,000, you pay back 1% of your Child Benefit for every £200 you earn above the threshold. At £90,000 you owe back half. At £100,000 you owe back the lot. The charge is on the higher earner in the household, not on the parent claiming, and it is collected through Self Assessment.
Salary sacrifice into a pension is the cleanest workaround for someone earning £85,000 to £95,000 with kids. £5,000 sacrificed brings adjusted net income from £85k to £80k, restores the full Child Benefit, and saves 40% income tax on the sacrificed amount. For a two-child family that is roughly £2,250 of Child Benefit retained plus £2,000 of tax saved on a £5,000 sacrifice, before the long-term pension growth on the contribution. The [salary sacrifice calculator](/uk-salary-sacrifice-calculator) models this combination directly.
What Counts Towards the £80,000 Threshold
HICBC is based on adjusted net income, which is your total taxable income minus certain reliefs. It includes salary, bonuses, taxable benefits in kind (the company car, the private medical), self-employment profits, rental income, and most pension income. It excludes pension contributions made by salary sacrifice (because those reduce your taxable income at source), Gift Aid donations grossed up, and trading losses. A higher earner who pays £6,000 a year into pension via salary sacrifice and donates £1,200 to charity has their HICBC income calculated as their P60 figure minus the gross Gift Aid, not their headline salary.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is Child Benefit for one child in 2026?
£26.05 a week, paid every four weeks (£104.20 per payment). That works out to £1,354.60 a year. The first-child rate is the same whether you are a single parent or a couple, and it is paid to one parent only, normally the one who registered the claim.
Do I get Child Benefit if I earn over £80,000?
You can still claim and receive Child Benefit, but if you (or your partner) earn over £80,000 you start owing some of it back through the High Income Child Benefit Charge, and at £100,000 the charge equals 100% of the benefit. Most families in that band claim anyway to protect National Insurance credits, then either pay the charge through Self Assessment or opt out of receiving the cash.
When does Child Benefit stop?
Automatically when your child turns 16, unless they continue in approved full-time education (A-levels, T-levels, or equivalent) or unpaid training. You can extend Child Benefit until age 20 by submitting form CH297. It stops on the 31 August following their 16th birthday if they leave school at 16, or at the end of their final year of approved education otherwise.
Why claim Child Benefit if I will pay it all back?
Claiming gives the non-working or lower-earning parent National Insurance credits towards their State Pension for every year they are responsible for a child under 12. Missing those credits can permanently reduce a State Pension worth £230,000 over a typical retirement. The claim also automatically registers the child for an NI number at 16. You can opt out of receiving payment while keeping the credits, which is what most affected high earners do.