Thousands of new parents are losing hundreds of pounds because they fail to claim child benefit within the first year of their baby's life, HM Revenue and Customs has said.
The allowance, which helps with the cost of bringing up children, is worth £27.05 a week for the first child and £17.90 for each subsequent child. But official data shows that parents of nearly a third of eligible children do not make a claim before their baby's first birthday. Payments can only be backdated for three months from the date HMRC receives the claim, meaning some families miss out on significant sums in the fog of new parenthood.
“One in three parents miss child benefit claim before baby's first birthday, losing up to hundreds of pounds.”
More than 6.8 million parents received child benefit in the year to August 2025, according to HMRC data. Yet only 69% of them claimed the support before their baby turned one. The tax authority acknowledged that some parents may choose not to claim because of the High Income Child Benefit Charge, under which payments start to reduce if one parent earns £60,000 a year and stop entirely when one parent earns £80,000.
To claim, one parent must fill out a form and provide the child's birth or adoption certificate and their own National Insurance number. The benefit is paid every four weeks and also gives the claimant National Insurance credits towards their state pension.
There were 585,396 babies born in England and Wales last year, according to the Office for National Statistics, which also released the most popular baby names of 2025: Olivia topped the list for girls for the 10th year running, while Muhammad held the top spot for boys for the third consecutive year. In Scotland, Freya replaced Olivia as the most popular girls' name, while Noah remained the top name for boys.
The release of the annual baby names list could serve as a timely reminder for parents to complete other official paperwork – such as the child benefit claim – before it is too late.
