- Child Benefit is £27.05 a week for the eldest or only child and £17.90 a week for each additional child in 2026/27.1
- One child is £27.05 a week, or £1,406.60 a year.1
- Two children come to £44.95 a week (£27.05 plus £17.90), or £2,337.40 a year.1
- Three children come to £62.85 a week, or £3,268.20 a year, and each extra child adds another £17.90 a week.1
- If anyone in the household has adjusted net income over £60,000, the High Income Child Benefit Charge starts to claw it back, reaching 100% at £80,000.2
Check yours in 30 seconds
Your Child Benefit at 2026/27 rates, and the High Income Child Benefit Charge if income is over £60,000. Worked out the same way as our full Child Benefit calculator.
How much is Child Benefit a week, every 4 weeks, a month and a year?
Child Benefit is £27.05 a week for the eldest or only child and £17.90 a week for each other child in 2026/27.1 It is usually paid every 4 weeks, so the monthly column is only for budgeting (weekly x 52 / 12).3
| A week | Every 4 weeks | A month (budgeting) | A year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 child | £27.05 | £108.20 | £117.22 | £1,406.60 |
| 2 children | £44.95 | £179.80 | £194.78 | £2,337.40 |
| 3 children | £62.85 | £251.40 | £272.35 | £3,268.20 |
| 4 children | £80.75 | £323.00 | £349.92 | £4,199.00 |
| 5 children | £98.65 | £394.60 | £427.48 | £5,129.80 |
| 6 children | £116.55 | £466.20 | £505.05 | £6,060.60 |
Who can get Child Benefit?
You can get it if you are responsible for a child under 16, or under 20 if they stay in approved education or training, such as A levels or T levels. University does not count.
You have to claim it: it does not start automatically. Claiming is free.
How much is Child Benefit a month for 1 to 5 children?
Child Benefit is paid every 4 weeks, but most budgets run monthly. Here is the monthly equivalent (weekly rate x 52 / 12) for each family size in 2026/27:1
| 1 child (£27.05 a week) | £117.22 a month |
| 2 children (£44.95 a week) | £194.78 a month |
| 3 children (£62.85 a week) | £272.35 a month |
| 4 children (£80.75 a week) | £349.92 a month |
| 5 children (£98.65 a week) | £427.48 a month |
Each child after the first adds £17.90 a week, which is about £77.57 a month or £930.80 a year. The payment you actually see in your account is the 4-weekly amount: £108.20 for one child, £179.80 for two and £251.40 for three.
How much is Child Benefit for a second child?
A second child adds £17.90 a week in 2026/27: £71.60 every 4 weeks and £930.80 a year. Only the eldest child gets the higher £27.05 rate, so the second child is paid at the additional-child rate.1
With two children the total is £44.95 a week (£2,337.40 a year). If your eldest stops qualifying, for example because they leave approved education, the next child moves up to the £27.05 rate.
One child is the cleanest place to start
For one child, Child Benefit uses the eldest-or-only-child rate of £27.05 a week.1 That makes it the simplest example: £27.05 a week is about £108 every four weeks, which is the payment cycle, and £1,406.60 over a full year.
It is also the clearest way to weigh Child Benefit against other support, such as childcare help or Council Tax Reduction, when the household budget is tight.
Two or three children rise, but not in a straight line
Once there is more than one child, the first child keeps the higher rate and each additional child uses the £17.90 additional-child rate.1 So the total climbs steadily rather than doubling or tripling.
Worked examples show the real scale better than a rate table, because the mix of one higher rate and several lower rates is easy to get wrong in your head.
Worked example: building up to three children
Here is how the weekly figure is built for a family with three children, using the eldest rate once and the additional-child rate for the others:
| Eldest or only child | £27.05 |
| Second child (additional rate) | £17.90 |
| Third child (additional rate) | £17.90 |
| Total for three children (weekly) | £62.85 |
Turned into annual figures, that is £1,406.60 for one child, £2,337.40 for two and £3,268.20 for three, each found by multiplying the weekly rate by 52. Every child after the first adds the same £17.90 a week, which is £930.80 a year.1
The bit that trips people up: Child Benefit is never subject to the two-child limit, so it pays for every child regardless of how many you have. It is also separate from Universal Credit, so claiming it does not reduce a UC award.
If income is higher, the next question is HICBC
For some households the bigger question is not how much Child Benefit is paid but how much is kept after the High Income Child Benefit Charge. The charge applies where one partner has adjusted net income between £60,000 and £80,000, and it removes the whole amount at £80,000.2
The practical order is simple: check the household Child Benefit amount first, then test the HICBC calculator if a higher income is in the picture.
How much do you keep if one of you earns £60,000 to £80,000?
If the higher earner's adjusted net income is over £60,000, they pay back 1% of the year's Child Benefit for every £200 over it. From £80,000 they pay it all back.2 Over a full year of Child Benefit in 2026/27, this is what you keep:
| Income of the higher earner | 1 child: you keep | 2 children: you keep | 3 children: you keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| £60,000 | £1,406.60 | £2,337.40 | £3,268.20 |
| £65,000 | £1,055.60 | £1,753.40 | £2,451.20 |
| £70,000 | £703.60 | £1,169.40 | £1,634.20 |
| £75,000 | £352.60 | £584.40 | £817.20 |
| £80,000 | £0.60 | £0.40 | £0.20 |
The charge looks at each person's own income, not your combined household income. If both of you are over the limit, the one with the higher income pays it.2
Adjusted net income is not the same as your salary. Payments into a personal pension and Gift Aid donations reduce it, which can bring you under the threshold.2
Worth claiming even on a higher income
Even families who expect to repay some or all of it through the charge usually gain from keeping the claim open. An active claim credits National Insurance towards the State Pension for a parent who is not working or earning little, and it means the child automatically gets a National Insurance number at 16.
You can opt out of receiving the payments to avoid the charge while keeping the claim itself alive, so those protective benefits carry on even when no money is paid.
From 6 April 2027: Child Benefit 2027-28 (Budget 2026)
The Budget on 28 October 2026 confirmed Child Benefit from 6 April 2027: £28.00 a week for the eldest or only child and £18.55 a week for each other child.4
Until then the 2026-27 rates apply: £27.05 and £17.90 a week.
The High Income Child Benefit Charge threshold for 2027-28 has not been restated yet (not yet confirmed).
| Children | 2026-27 a week | 2027-28 a week | 2026-27 a year | 2027-28 a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 child | £27.05 | £28.00 | £1,406.60 | £1,456.00 |
| 2 children | £44.95 | £46.55 | £2,337.40 | £2,420.60 |
| 3 children | £62.85 | £65.10 | £3,268.20 | £3,385.20 |
Free Child Benefit calculator 2026/27 UK (free)
Before you go
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