What do you spend child benefit on?

[Nonymousnurse]

I’m a nurse, two DC, married and husband is a middle income earner. We qualify for child benefit but do not receive any other public funds.

I’ve been saving the child benefit, never spent a single pence of it, with the idea of passing it to my DC when they are older. I told MIL this and she looked at me like I’m mad, said she always used it for courses, partie, etc. But I reckon I can get by on our wages so have put the CB in a savings pot. I realise I’m fortunate to be able to do this.

Just wondering if others save or spend their CB.

If you can afford to save it you shouldn’t be claiming it. Give it to charity.

@summerlovingvibes I’m sorry but that’s disgraceful, you shouldn’t be claiming it if you don’t need it

I'm not eligible to receive it. If I was and didn't need if for day to day expenses I'd save it to contribute to any future university costs DC.

The contributions middle income parents are expected to make to children's university costs are eye watering.

If they shouldn't be claiming it then they couldn't claim it. If people get it then they are entitled to it.

Why? Just because they don't need it now doesn't mean they won't need it, especially if OP's DC wants to go to university.

I’m a nurse, two DC, married and husband is a middle income earner. We qualify for child benefit but do not receive any other public funds.

If you qualify for it, and you receive low nursing wages, I'm not sure how you can afford to save it 🤔

@PatChaunceysFruitCake I went to university and now have student debts to pay, because my Mum needed to spend child benefit on food and bills.

I know people with hundreds of thousands invested or in property still ‘entitled’ as they earn below threshold, and claiming. Pisses me right off.

@mummyava inheritance, childcare help from family, low mortgage? Some people claiming CB are loaded as investments and savings aren’t assessed.

It just goes in the pot. It has never occurred to me to save it or think it's "just" for DC. It's just part of my household budget.

To be fair you could have a household income of 98K and still qualify for it. CB doesn't = low income

Although I qualify for it and have to use it for food and essentials, I wish I could afford to save it!

And people who qualify, even with a joint income, but don't need it shouldn't claim it. In its original incarnation it was intended to help low earners, not a cash cow to use for savings

@Babooshka1990 isn't it the case now though that the children of middle income families receive a lower loan than lower income families? There is an expectation that the parents stump up. Reductions to the loan start where the family income is £25k a year.

Anyway, I can't get worked up about people who are entitled to child benefit claiming it and saving it for their children's future. If you want to be pissed off be pissed off at the people who lie to receive it when they aren't entitled.

True

We spend it on essentials, it’s part of the household pot. Didn’t even occur to me that not everyone does this!

I save it for college funds for the kids when they will be on age to go to university as they won't be entitled to any grant unless circumstances change.

It pays ds health insurance and for baby classes , clothes etc. I'm in Ireland though so get a bit more than in the UK.

I suppose I save it but don't think about it like that, it goes in the pot but I do save roughly the same amount for dc

A lot of my middle income friends do this. I think it’s nice if you can afford it. I’ve always had to rely on cb to help pay for the additional costs that come with having a child (dp and I work ft- apparently not enough during this current climate).

It’s always something I’ve perceived to be a ‘middle class luxury’ though.

It’s not that I don’t care about my child’s future. But I hope that they will manage without me setting them up financially, as I have managed. Hopefully I can help them as my career progresses when they get older, even if I can’t do anything about it right now. I will do my best but they won’t be getting cars & driving lessons, etc. funded by me. I will help towards a deposit on a house for them, even if it kills me. But if they want extras then they’re going to have to work for it.

Eldest is at uni now so we only get the one child entitlement now. It's always just gone into the household pot. Feeding them, clothing them, school trips etc costs a lot more per month than the CB. Luckily we live in wales so get a better deal with uni costs anyway.

Tbh I've always thought it was a payment to the parents to help with the costs of children rather than a payment to go TO the children. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Yes I spend it , I don't set it aside it doesn't go into a separate pot. DD will receive a property when she's older and I will give her, her first car she does not need the CB money as well.

If your earnings are over a certain amount (think about £50,000), you can claim it but then pay it back.

The prnciple of universality at payment is an important one, I think,

It's not like it goes to someone who needs it if you don't claim it.

No kids myself but my parents put mine in an account for uni, which was great.

Oh actually DH pays the tax on it , I didn't want to stop getting it when she was younger due to the NI pension stamps. Definitely always claim it when you are on maternity so you don't lose stamps..

Food, school uniform, bills - so general living costs.

We never spent a penny of it, we saved it and used it to support her through uni.