The BBC has become the Department of the Bleedin’ Obvious: of course child benefit claims have risen after more people became eligible!

It’s not exactly rocket science to work out that claims were always going to increase after then-Chancellor Jeremy Hunt changed the rules in April; new claimants would have applied, and people who previously did not think they were eligible will also have done so.

So:

There were 86,656 new claims made [in April], which was up 16% on the previous month, a BBC Freedom of Information (FoI) request has found.

For information, here are the current eligibility rules:

You can get child benefit if you are responsible for bringing up a child who is under 16, or under 20 if they stay in approved education or training.

Only one person can claim the benefit for a child. The payments are £25.60 a week for the eldest or only child, and £16.95 a week for younger children.

However, payments are reduced once one parent starts earning at a certain level, known as the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC).

On 6 April, the income level at which people have to start paying back part of the benefit rose from £50,000 to £60,000, and the level at which it is withdrawn completely went up from £60,000 to £80,000.

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