When clients think about Child Benefit, they often focus on the weekly payments — £26.05 a week for the first child and £17.25 for each additional child in 2025/26.
But there’s a much bigger — and often overlooked — benefit: protecting your National Insurance (NI) record, particularly if you’re not currently working or earning below the NI threshold.
What Child Benefit Really Does
Child Benefit is a payment from the UK government for anyone responsible for raising a child under 16 (or under 20 if they remain in approved education or training).
However, the most important feature isn’t always the money.
When you make a Child Benefit claim, you automatically receive National Insurance credits while your child is under age 12. These credits count towards your State Pension and help fill gaps in your NI record if you’re not working or your earnings are too low to generate NI contributions.
For parents who take time out of paid work — for childcare, parental leave, part-time work, or other reasons — these credits can make a material difference to future pension entitlement. In effect, they give you qualifying NI years without needing employment or self-employment income.
Child Benefit and the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC)
Many families assume that if one partner earns above a certain level, Child Benefit simply isn’t worth claiming. That assumption is often wrong.
For the 2024/25 and 2025/26 tax years, the High Income Child Benefit Charge applies where one partner has adjusted net income over £60,000.
The charge works as follows:
- £60,000 to £80,000 – you repay 1% of the Child Benefit for every £200 of income over £60,000
- Over £80,000 – the charge equals 100% of the Child Benefit, meaning no net cash benefit
This is why many higher-earning families decide not to claim at all — it feels pointless if the payments are fully clawed back through tax.
The Part Many People Miss
Even if your income is above the threshold, you can still make a Child Benefit claim and opt not to receive the payments.
By doing this:
- You still receive National Insurance credits, protecting your State Pension record
- You avoid the High Income Child Benefit Charge
- Your child will automatically be issued a National Insurance number when they approach age 16
The government explicitly allows this approach. You complete the Child Benefit claim form and elect not to receive payments, preserving the NI credits without triggering additional tax.
So Who Should Claim?
At a minimum, Child Benefit should be actively considered by:
- Non-working parents, to protect their NI record
- Parents on low earnings, who may not otherwise qualify for NI contributions
- Couples where one partner earns over £60,000, as the claim can be made without receiving payments
Even where the cash benefit is fully clawed back under HICBC, the long-term State Pension value can far outweigh the short-term tax considerations.
Final Thought
Many families assume, “We earn too much — we can’t claim.” From a State Pension planning perspective, that assumption can be costly.
Making a Child Benefit claim — even with zero cash received — is one of the simplest ways to protect long-term retirement outcomes. And with self-assessment deadlines and HICBC reporting approaching each January, now is a good time to review whether a claim has been made and structured correctly.
