Is child benefit going up in 2023?

Wondering if child benefit is going up in 2023? You're not alone. The cost of living crisis has made it harder and harder for families to cope with increasing average childcare costs (opens in new tab) and the cost of raising a child (opens in new tab) in general. 

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

If you receive child benefit, it's worth being aware of the stark benefits warning (opens in new tab) issued to parents who let their child play truant from school at the end of February.

If you have just had a baby, you should also check whether maternity pay is going up (opens in new tab) so you can plan your finances effectively. 

Is child benefit going up in 2023?

Child benefit payments are going up from April 2023, in line with inflation. The new rates will be £24 a week for the eldest child and £15.90 a week for second and additional children. HM Revenue & Customs confirmed in November 2022 that child benefit payments will increase from 10 April 2023.

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.

Laura Suter (opens in new tab), head of personal finance at AJ Bell, said: “Child benefit is one of the many state benefits that will increase by 10.1% this April, as the government raised rates by inflation. A whole host of benefits will rise by 10.1% from April, including the state pension, Universal Credit, carer’s allowance and disability benefits.”

The weekly child benefit rate for the eldest child will rise from £21.80 to £24 while the rate for other children will increase from £14.45 to £15.90 a week. This increase means that a parent of two children will get £189.80 a year more in benefit in 2023/24.

Child Benefit is usually paid every four weeks on a Monday or Tuesday and the new rates will take effect from 10 April, the first full week of the 2023/24 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 (opens in new tab) announced in the Autumn Statement on 17 November 2022 that people claiming working age and disability benefits will see payments rise 10.1% in line with inflation from the start of the next tax year. 

Universal Credit will be uprated from April. If you can claim Universal Credit (opens in new tab), how much you get depends on your age and circumstances. As an example, a single person aged over 25 currently gets a standard allowance of £334.91 a month but this will rise to £368.74 from April, meaning an annual rise of £405.96.

The benefit cap is a limit on the total amount of benefits people of working age can get, adding all their benefits together. How much cap is depends on if you live in London and whether you claim as a single person or as a couple. For example, the benefits cap will go up from £13,400 to £14,753 a year from April 2023 for a single person living outside of Greater London.

Other benefits being uprated from April (opens in new tab) 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 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 (opens in new tab) 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 (opens in new tab).