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What The Child Benefit Calculator Works Out
- Weekly amount: GBP 27.05 a week for the eldest child plus GBP 17.90 for each additional child in 2026/27, so a two-child family gets GBP 44.95 a week. There is no limit on the number of children, unlike the two-child cap in Universal Credit.
- Per year: the weekly figure x 52, about GBP 2,337 for two children, paid until each child turns 16, or 20 if they stay in approved education or training. Claims can only be backdated three months, so claim promptly after a birth.
- High income charge: the High Income Child Benefit Charge claws back 1% of the benefit for every GBP 200 the higher earner's adjusted net income is above GBP 60,000, so it is fully repaid at GBP 80,000. It is judged on the higher earner alone: two parents on GBP 59,000 each keep everything while a single earner on GBP 81,000 keeps nothing. It can now be paid through PAYE rather than self assessment.
- Every 4 weeks (advanced): Child Benefit is normally paid every four weeks on a Monday or Tuesday, 13 times a year, so the card shows the amount that actually lands.
- Pension contributions and Gift Aid (advanced): both reduce adjusted net income, the figure the charge is tested on. Gift Aid donations count grossed up (GBP 100 given reduces income by GBP 125), so extra pension saving or giving can restore Child Benefit for those in the taper.
- Pension to escape the charge (advanced): the extra contribution that would bring adjusted net income down to GBP 60,000. Higher-rate relief means it costs about 60% of the gross amount, and the benefit it saves cuts the real cost further.
- Marginal rate in the taper (advanced): income tax, National Insurance and the benefit lost on each extra pound between GBP 60,000 and GBP 80,000. For two children that adds about 11.7 points, giving an effective rate above 50%, and more with three or more children.
- Value over the years (advanced): the benefit kept after any charge multiplied by the years you expect to claim, at today's rates. Even where the charge wipes out the payment, submit the claim form ticking the no-payment box: it earns National Insurance credits towards the State Pension for a parent not otherwise working and registers the child for a NI number at 16.
Source and further reading: GOV.UK: Child Benefit.