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Child Benefit Statistics
The following dashboard summarises the latest statistics from the Department for works and Pensions on Child Benefit claims.
This publication includes details of the number of families claiming Child Benefit, receiving Child Benefit payments and opting out of receiving Child Benefit payments. It also includes the number and ages of children within those families and their geographical location. Please note that figures will include some claimants that are subject to the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) and have chosen to continue receiving Child Benefit payments and repay their liability through an income tax charge.
Child Benefit is a payment that you can claim for your child. It is usually paid every 4 weeks but in some cases can be paid weekly. The payment can be claimed by anyone who qualifies.
As of January 2013, claimants may be liable to a tax charge called the HICBC. This tax charge does not affect a child’s entitlement but the Child Benefit recipient will be liable to repay some or all of their entitlement if their income (or their partner’s income) exceeds a certain threshold
Further information is available at GOV.UK.
Key Messages
- The latest data estimates that around 55,900 families were in receipt of child benefit in 2024 and there were an estimated 93,300 children living in these families (aged 0-19). Since 2020 the number of families has fallen by 2.9% and the number of children has fallen by 3.5% in County Durham.
- The majority of families (50.8%/28,400 families) were single child families and the majority of children were aged between 5 and 15 years of age, (representing 62.4%/58,200 of children).
- In 2024 nearly 2,900 families opted out of claiming child benefit through the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC). This affected around 4,200 children.