Earning over £60,000? Here's why claiming Child Benefit can still be worth it, what the National Insurance credit is worth, and how to claim it properly.
If you or your partner earn over £60,000, it is tempting to assume Child Benefit is not worth the paperwork. This post explains why claiming it anyway, even if you never see a penny of the payment, can protect years of your State Pension, and what has just changed that makes this worth sorting out now. It is written for any working parent above the threshold who has stopped claiming, or never started.
If the higher earner in your household earns more than £60,000 a year, some or all of your Child Benefit gets clawed back through the High Income Child Benefit Charge. Since April 2024 the charge applies on a sliding scale between £60,000 and £80,000, and above £80,000 you repay it in full through Self Assessment or PAYE (MoneySavingExpert, April 2026). Before April 2024 that clawback started at £50,000, so plenty of parents are still working from an out of date threshold.
The charge is based on the higher earner's individual income, not the household's combined income. Two parents each earning £55,000 keep their Child Benefit in full. One parent earning £85,000 with a partner who earns nothing loses it all, which catches out couples who assume it works like a joint tax band.
Claiming Child Benefit while you have a child under 12 gives you National Insurance credits automatically, and those count towards the 35 qualifying years needed for the full State Pension (MoneySavingExpert, April 2026). If you have stepped back from paid work, or your income comes from property or investments rather than employment, those are years your record could otherwise sit empty.
You do not have to take the money to get the credit. The claim form and the digital service both let you claim but opt out of the payments. No tax charge to think about, but your record still fills up as if you were claiming in full. HMRC has confirmed this route exists precisely so higher earning families are not penalised twice, once through the charge and again through a pension gap.
The new State Pension is £241.30 a week in 2026/27, up from £230.25 the year before (DWP, April 2026 uprating). Each qualifying year is worth one thirty fifth of that, so missing a single year costs around £358 a year in retirement, for the rest of your retirement. Miss three years while your children are small and that is over £1,000 a year in today's terms, every year you draw your pension. It happens silently too, with no letter or warning at the time, only a smaller number decades later.
If you stopped claiming, or never claimed, and think you have gaps from years spent at home with a child under 12, HMRC had planned a tool to let you claim missing credits retrospectively. It was due in April 2026 and has now been delayed to April 2027 (MoneySavingExpert, April 2026). Most people simply wait a year longer. The exception is anyone at or very close to State Pension age now, whose pension could be paid at a lower rate in the meantime. If that is you, contact HMRC directly and ask for the years to be corrected now rather than waiting for the new service.
When my income went above the Child Benefit threshold, my first instinct was to stop claiming altogether. It felt like admin for admin's sake, filling in a form to receive money I would then hand straight back through my tax return. It took someone who understood the system properly to help me see I was about to quietly give up a slice of my own State Pension for no reason at all.
That is the pattern I see so often with the women I talk to. Not carelessness, just a reasonable assumption made without the full picture, because nobody sits you down and explains how these systems connect to each other. Child Benefit feels like a parenting admin task. Your State Pension feels like a problem for your fifties. Nobody tells you they are the same conversation, which is really the whole reason Welleness exists.
Log into the Child Benefit digital service or request a CH2 form from gov.uk, and if you would rather not receive the payments, select the option to claim but opt out so you keep the National Insurance credit without the tax charge.
Check your record at gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record to see whether any years since your children were born show as incomplete.
If you are within a few years of State Pension age and think you have missed credits from a child now over 12, contact HMRC directly now rather than waiting for the April 2027 tool.
Yes. The credit goes to whoever is named on the claim, so if one parent is not working and the other already has a full record through employment, the claim should usually name the parent who needs the credit.
Yes. Opting out only stops the money landing in your account. The claim, and the credit attached to it, still stand.
Credits only apply automatically under 12. For earlier gaps, you will generally need to wait for the HMRC tool launching in April 2027, unless you are close to State Pension age, in which case contact HMRC directly now.
The higher earner's individual income, not your combined household income. Two parents can each earn up to £60,000 and keep Child Benefit in full, even with a joint income higher than a single earner on £61,000.
Here is what one Welleness member said after completing her financial health check.
"WOW! I am blown away and actually really grateful. This landed at just the right time for me. I'm at an odd point financially, definitely want to take more control, really anxious about having taken a number of years out of investing in my pension and taking a hit to my income. So I'm really grateful to you for developing this because I think it is SO needed." Jude, Welleness user
If reading this has made you wonder whether your own National Insurance record has quiet gaps in it, our free financial health check takes less than five minutes and gives you a clear picture across six areas of your financial life, including retirement. No judgement. No jargon. Just clarity.
This post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. For guidance specific to your situation, speak to a regulated financial adviser.
This post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. For guidance specific to your situation, speak to a regulated financial adviser.
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