Missing out on child benefit? Why not claiming could be an expensive mistake

Failing to claim can even lead to a reduced state pension later on.

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Published: June 19, 2026 at 2:51 PM

Nearly one in three parents fails to claim child benefit in their baby’s first year – losing £1,406.60 a year, tax-free, to help with the inevitable costs of a newborn.

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Overall, a record one in eight parents does not now claim it, new figures from HMRC reveal.

Until recently the take-up of child benefit was close to 100%. Claiming it was as much a part of having a baby as registering the birth, because every parent in the UK qualified.

But since 2013 it has become more complicated. Every parent can still claim it, but people on high incomes have some or all of it taken back through a tax called the High Income Child Benefit Charge.

That begins once a parent’s income reaches £60,200 a year and if their income is £80,000 or more the tax charge takes back all the child benefit.

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The test applies to the parent or, for couples, the partner with the higher income. It is not based on joint income and the partner is assessed even if they are not a parent of the child.

The income of an absent parent is ignored.

Some mothers choose to avoid the hassle by not claiming child benefit, though the new numbers indicate that many more people are being put off than the 1 in 20 whose income is £80,000 a year or more.

Child Benefit is £27.05 a week (£1,406.60 a year) for the first child and £17.90 (£930.80) for each other child.

It is normally paid to the mother and lasts till the child leaves full-time education or training up to and including age 19.

However, from the age of 16 the parent must reclaim it each year by 31 August or it stops in September.

Apart from losing the tax-free cash now, failing to claim child benefit leaves mothers in danger of getting a reduced state pension when they retire.

A parent who gets child benefit is also given a National Insurance credit for each week while the child is under the age of 12.

That fills the gap in National Insurance contributions that will be left when a mother does not work or earns too little to pay them.

It’s easy to claim – search gov.uk for “child benefit” – but it can only be backdated up to three months

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