Is child benefit going up in 2024?

Wondering if child benefit is going up in 2024? You're not alone. The cost of living crisis has made it harder and harder for families to cope with increasing average childcare costs and the cost of raising a child in general. 

While you may qualify for 30 hours free childcare, an increase in child benefit will be welcome news for families who are struggling to make ends meet. 

In his Autumn Statement on 22 November, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirmed that many benefits, including child benefit, would be changing in 2024. This announcement comes as parents are issued a warning as a child benefit payment cut off looms.

Is child benefit going up in 2024?

Child benefit payments are going up from April 2024, in line with September 2023's inflation figures. This means that child benefit, and other benefits, will be rising by 6.7%, rising from £24 a week to £25.60 for eldest children, and from £15.90 to £16.97 for each additional child. There had been rumours that the Government would use October 2023's lower inflation rate of 4.6% to increase benefits, but the Chancellor confirmed that, as usual, the September inflation figures would be used to inform the benefits increase. 

Child benefit is a payment made to people responsible for bringing up a child under 16, or a person aged under 20 if they are still in full-time education or on certain approved training courses. It's paid at two different rates, one for eldest or only children, and another for any and all additional children.

Child benefit is usually paid every four weeks on a Monday or Tuesday and the new rates will take effect from April 2024, which is the start of the 2024/25 tax year.

Parents don’t have to do anything to get the new increased rate, it will be paid automatically.

What other benefits are going up at the same time? 

Most benefits are increased by the rate of inflation each April. This is called uprating. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced in the Autumn Statement on 22 November 2023 that a host of benefits, including Universal Credit, will go up by 6.7% from April 2024. 

Other benefits being uprated from April include: 

• Carer’s Allowance
• Disability Living Allowance
• Personal Independence Payment
• Statutory Sick Pay
• Maternity/Paternity Allowance
• Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay.

Legacy benefits such as Jobseekers’ Allowance and Housing Benefit will go up too. 

How do I know which benefits I am entitled to?

Everyone with responsibility for a child can claim child benefit, but only one parent can claim it for each child. You can claim child benefit as soon as you have registered your child’s birth but, if you forget in all the excitement of bringing a newborn home, you can backdate your claim.

Personal finance expert at AJ Bell, Laura Suter adds: “Anyone claiming child benefit who thinks they may have been eligible previously can get their claim backdated by up to three months. This means they will get any child benefit they were owed for those months, as well as the National Insurance credits that you were entitled to for that period.”

Once you or your partner earn over £50,000 a year you will be liable for a High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge which means some of the child benefit has to be paid back.

Some parents might be entitled to other benefits too. Universal Credit has replaced Working Tax Credits for most people but if you still claim them you can apply for Child Tax Credits. 

Helen Morrisey, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says: “You can usually get Child Tax Credits for each child you are responsible for depending on when they were born and how many children you have. If all of your children were born before 6 April 2017 then you can claim Child Tax Credits.

“If your first or second child was born on or after 6 April 2017, you can claim Child Tax Credits for them but if your third (or any later) child was born on or after 6 April 2017, you can't usually get Child Tax Credits for them.”

To find out which other benefits you might be entitled to, use the benefits calculator on EntitledTo.com.  

You might also be interested in how much it costs to raise a child, as well as the average childcare costs to see how these could be impacted by an increase in your child benefit.