Child Benefit payments set to rise next month – how much can you get paid from the DWP? | Personal Finance | Finance
As well as this benefit payment, claimants of Guardian’s Allowance will also experience a similar increase. Administered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Child Benefit is a payment designed to help people who are in charge of caring for someone below the age of 16. The benefit payment is also extended to those who look after young people under 20 years old, if they are still in full-time education or are currently on DWP-approved training courses.
Claimants are paid every four weeks, usually on a Monday or Tuesday, and there is no specific amount a parent or guardian can put forward a claim for.
It should be noted by those looking to apply for Child Benefit that the DWP is means-tested which could affect how much they get.
Means-tested means that a claimant’s eligibility to get a certain amount in benefits is dependent on their income and how much they have in savings.
Any income below £50,000 and savings will not affect how much a Child Benefit claimant receives.
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Furthermore, recipients of the DWP benefit will not have had to pay any National Insurance contributions beforehand.
However, those who have an income of over £50,000 and savings will see their Child Benefit claim affected.
As the new financial year starts on April 1, 2021, the DWP is set to change the payment rates of various benefits.
Among the benefits that will be affected by said changes include: Universal Credit, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
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Furthermore, Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Income Support, Attendance Allowance and Housing Benefit will be impacted by the payment changes.
On top of this, the state pension will increase in April which will assist older Britons in light of the increase in the cost of living.
Recently, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) announced similar changes to the payment rate of Child Benefit and Guardian’s Allowance.
As a result, the brand new rate of four-weekly payments will be £87.20 for an eldest child or only child and £56.00 for any other children in a household.
Following this benefit payment rate change, parents or guardians will get an extra £33.80 and £23.40 over the next financial year.
As well as these changes to Child Benefit, Guardian’s Allowance claimants will see a new weekly payment rate of £18.55 in April 2022.
This represents an increase of 55p from the weekly payment of £18 given to recipients over the last year.
