Child Benefit - how do you spend it?

[debster]

I've been wondering how people spend their child benefit. Do you spend it just on your children, save it or spend it any which way? Our child benefit is paid into a separate account but isn't actually spent on the children exclusively. They do have their own savings accounts but this is for birthday/Xmas money. The child benefit usually goes towards our household expenses.

Whilst I appreciate the extra money we get I do also feel uncomfortable about whether we should receive it all. I think child benefit should be means tested especially after seeing a programme a few years ago which featured a middle class woman who saved her child benefit to buy a new piece of art every year. I would rather those who really need it get more than everyone getting the same.

What do others think/do?

General household income for me as well.

Ours goes into the joint current account (as does all our income - tax credits, both salaries etc). We do have a monthly standing order set up for DS but it is much less than child benefit. However, any money DS receives as gifts I pay into his account also.

Used to go into a first saver ac, got up to about 3k and we needed it so now the balance is about a grand but since the end of last year we changed it so that payments go into our main account to contribute to bringing him up. Ditto dd's, although now I'm working I'd consider opening an account for her and putting it in there.

When dd was a baby we spent the child benefit on a months supply of nappies, wipes etc. Now that she is a lot older it is used for clothes, school Uniform, shoes, ballet/gymnastics lessons, spending money for holidays, and later in the year most of it goes towards her christmas presents.

I don't think it should be means tested, it's nice to know that there is at least one benefit that we can get without having to go through all the hassle of the will we/won't we qualify debate. It's not a huge amount of money but to be honest and like others have said it is essential to us.

Goes into the big pot and no doubt gets spent on the children one way or another, food, clothes, toys, days out etc.

Ours too goes into our general spending/bills pot and is swallowed up, but when i've just added up costs of children's (2) activities it adds up to more than the child ben. i always said i wouldn't get into the children having an endless list of hobbies and activities but it seems to have already happened and they are only 5 and 7. anyonelse the same?

Good post eddm. I really agree. Also I think mothers are usually by far the best people to decide what their child needs. Spending it on a cleaner might sound really frivolous (don't worry, not being judgemental - I have a cleaner!) but if it makes the difference between a happy mum with time to play and a miserable, frazzled, depressed one, who's to say it's not for the child's benefit? I doubt any gvmt could spend so little a week and improve children's lives so much.

our goes into a seperate account and is used to contribute to clothe, shoe, uniform, swimming and ballet lessons.

Do save for them - Nationwides "smart2Save" but a lesser amount than the child benefit.

Glad it is not means tested - but am amazed it isn't...

i know we are very lucky being able to save it for ds. however, one of the reasons i'm determined to keep it in my name is that in the event our circumstances were to change, i wouldn't hesitate (though would deeply regret it) to use it for groceries or whatever if we needed to.

Can't believe you all think it shouldn't be means tested. So if I started a thread saying let's top up child credit, presumably you'd all say no??? Personally I can't see why DS gets child benefit when we don't really need it.

Eddm, regardless of whether you think means testing is expensive, the point is that we already have means testing for other benefits - so there wouldn't be much additional cost if we took the money dished out in child benefit and used it to top up child credit or any other means tested benefit (like JSA).

I don't think it should be means tested because the cut-off point would inevitably be around £25k p.a. and I imagine that there are many people who have a family income of £25k p.a. for whom the child benefit is important and does make a difference to the food they buy and other basics.

Yes, I'm lucky that I "don't really need it" and by that I mean don't need to use it for Bills and groceries.
I am against means testing for this I'm afraid as it is the only "benefit" I get from the Government and I liken it to tax relief bareing in mind the large amount of our post tax money that goes towards nursery day care and after school care to allow me to work.

Another reason I think it shouldn't be means tested is not only that means testing is so expensive it would mean less money for children in this country, not more, but because so many means tested benefits go unclaimed, so again, children would have less money spent on them, not more. I think child benefit is spend very wisely for children and probably saves the government money in the long run.

I think it's like the basic state pension.

I used to have mine paid by book at the PO and spent it on having my highlights done and gin! Now it is paid into our bank account and gets swallowed up!

I don't think CB should be means-tested. One of the reasons for bringing it in during the 70's was that it was a good way of ensuring that all mothers had some money for their children, independent of the child's father. A lot more woman have their own income nowadays but I still think it's a valid reason for CB not to be means-tested. It gives all women just that little bit of financial independence.

I think worries about cut-off points etc are just debates over the level of taxation - which there will always be debates over regardless of where the cut off point is. I just think £9bn is a lot to give away without being sure it goes to those who really need it (about equal to the amount we spend in total on means-tested child related benefits/credits, so it's not trivial). Personally I don't need it, and I'd rather it went to those to whom £16 pw makes a real difference.

I don't think it should be means tested. We all get the same per child regardless of income. Everyone of you will spend more than that on their child in a month in one form or another. I am lucky I manage to save £100 a month for each of them in different forms. Which is far more than I get in child benefit.

No I don't think it should be means tested. We always manage to be just over the cut-off of whatever's on offer, despite being both on not very high incomes (it's the "both" that does it).

If they took it away from everyone to give more to the poor do you really think the poor would benefit? No, of course they wouldn't. Anyone on income support would get less IS to make up for having more CHB & the same would happen with tax credits- more with left hand, less with right.

People with children have more expenses than people without. The child benefit doesn't in any way make up the difference but it does help, even if you are only saving it for their future (& ours gets used as general income- I wish we could afford to save )

florence- if you don't need it, don't claim it.

(& it makes a huge difference to us even though we aren't poor).

What I find totally wrong about child benefit is whereas it's not supposed to be means tested, for someone who is on income support it is considered as income so is deducted from the amount of income support received. How can that be fair?

The equivalent benefit here is means tested and we get the grand sum of 2 pounds a week, which is all saved up and paid to us at the end of the tax year (with no interest). If it wasn't for the interest I seriously think it would cost the govt more to pay than they were paying IYSWIM.

i think the problem with means tested is a lot of people on low income will be made to feel like a charity case atleast where its universal every ones getting a fair chance

mine gets spent on ds not question what alot of people dont think about is that child benifit is about 16 pound a week now could someone please tell me how you could logicaly bring up a child on that amout a week so where people dispare thinking that they use the money for bills add up how much you spend on your child/ren

This thread had prompted me to do something with DS's child benefit. At the moment it does disappear into our joint account and I don't really want that to happen.

On the means testing issue, I'm sure we wouldn't qualify if it were.....so I suppose I hope it's not.

How do you apply for child benefit? my dd is six months old and it's just occured to me reading this that I should be getting it. What do I need to do?