Child Benefit Christmas 2026: Paid Early on 24 December, Due Monday 28 December

Child Benefit due on Monday 28 December 2026 is paid early, on Thursday 24 December, according to the GOV.UK table of Child Benefit payment dates around bank holidays. A payment due on Tuesday 29 December is paid on Wednesday 30 December in Northern Ireland (NI) only. GOV.UK is the official UK government site, and the payments come from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). This page sets the dates beside the bank holidays, works out the four-week amounts and carries a printable sheet.

Which Child Benefit payments move at Christmas 2026?

GOV.UK’s “Bank holidays” page for Child Benefit payment dates lists two rows for the Christmas period.

Due date (GOV.UK)	Weekday	Paid on (GOV.UK)	Weekday
28 December 2026	Monday	24 December	Thursday
29 December 2026	Tuesday	30 December (Northern Ireland only)	Wednesday

The weekdays are our calculation. The page gives no reason for the Northern Ireland row, and this story does not offer one. It lists no row for 25 December or 1 January, and it has no January 2027 rows at all. Those dates are left blank here rather than guessed.

Under GOV.UK’s general rule, Child Benefit “is usually paid every 4 weeks on a Monday or Tuesday”. The Christmas rows are the exceptions to that pattern.

Which UK bank holidays fall around the payment?

GOV.UK’s bank holidays page lists these days for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Date	Weekday	Bank holiday	Where
25 December 2026	Friday	Christmas Day	All three
28 December 2026	Monday	Boxing Day (substitute day)	All three
1 January 2027	Friday	New Year’s Day	All three
4 January 2027	Monday	2nd January (substitute day)	Scotland

26 December 2026 is a Saturday, which is why Boxing Day appears on Monday 28 December. Our UK Christmas bank holidays story covers the days off in full, and the December 2026 printable calendar and January 2027 printable calendar show the dates in a month grid. For the holiday itself, see when is Christmas Day.

How much is a four-week Child Benefit payment?

GOV.UK’s 2026 to 2027 rates, last updated on 9 March 2026, are £27.05 a week for the eldest or only child and £17.90 a week for each other child. Guardian’s Allowance is £22.95 a week. Child Benefit is usually paid every 4 weeks, so we multiplied the weekly rates by four. These are our calculations, not figures printed by GOV.UK.

Children	Weekly rate (GOV.UK)	Four weeks (our calculation)
1	£27.05	£108.20
2	£44.95	£179.80
3	£62.85	£251.40

Each child after the first adds £71.60 to a four-week payment. The table does not cover Guardian’s Allowance, and GOV.UK has not posted Christmas dates for it.

How long does the 24 December payment have to last?

If the four-week pattern holds, the next payment after the one due on 28 December is due four weeks later, on Monday 25 January 2027. This is our calculation from “every 4 weeks”, not an HMRC date, and GOV.UK’s bank holiday page has no January 2027 rows to confirm it. Counting from the early payment on 24 December, that is 32 days to the next due date.

What has not been announced?

• The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has not posted its “Benefit and pension payment dates: Christmas and New Year 2026” page. Its last one, for 2024, went up on 19 December 2024. Our Christmas Bonus 2026 story tracks the £10 payment, which has no set date either.
• Guardian’s Allowance Christmas dates are not posted.
• The HMRC Child Benefit helpline is on 0300 200 3100 in the UK and +44 161 210 3086 from outside it, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, and “Closed bank holidays”, says the GOV.UK enquiries page, last updated 19 December 2025. Christmas-period hours are not confirmed, so check that page before you call.

For another winter payment with its own dates, see the Winter Fuel Payment 2026 story.