Change to Financial Help for Young Parents
As a result of Family Nurse Partnership (FNP) client feedback within NHS Lanarkshire, there has been a significant change to Child Benefit that came into effect from the 7th April 2025.
The law has been changed to enable young parents, who are under 16, to claim child benefit in their own right, without a national insurance number. The change means that the young parents' households could be better off by around £8 a week.
This is important as there is a strong association between teenage pregnancy and social deprivation, meaning that younger mothers may struggle financially, live in poorer housing and have lower educational attainment. This change to child benefit, brought about by feedback from Family Nurse Partnership teams, will help mitigate financial and emotional pressures on young parents, as well as supporting financial responsibility.
Child Benefit Update (if you are aged under 16)
You can apply for child benefit if you are under 16. You do not need to have a National Insurance number. Alternatively, someone else in your family could claim child benefit for your baby. This would usually be your parent, or the person who claims child benefit for you. If you claim for your baby, you will receive the higher rate child benefit of £26.05 a week for an eldest child, but if someone else claims, they will receive the lower rate of £17.25 a week if they are also claiming for you or another child or young person. Claims can be backdated 3 months.
You can find the updated version of the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) ‘Financial help for young parents’ factsheet for April 2025 here: Financial help for young parents | CPAG