Tax Credit & Child Benefit Study

About this study

This is a major study of the tax credit and Child Benefit system.

We are asking people what it is really like to receive tax credits and Child Benefit and how it affects their lives.

Our findings will be used to help improve people's experiences of claiming tax credits and Child Benefit.

The study started in 2008, when we interviewed 3,400 tax credits recipients throughout the UK. In 2009 we returned to the same people and contacted about a thousand additional families that received Child Benefit. In 2010 we spoke to these people again to see how their experiences have changed.

Read the reports

You can read the following research reports from 2009 on the HM Revenue & Customs website, here.

Research Report 144. Take-up of tax credits
Research Report 145. Financial support from tax credits at the beginning of the economic downturn in 2008-09
Research Report 146. Customers' experiences of the Tax Credits Helpline
Research Report 148. Tax credits renewals
Research Report 149. Risk factors of error in the tax credits process

The technical reports from 2009 are available to download by using the red buttons at the bottom of this page.

How we are working

The study has been commissioned by HM Revenue & Customs - the government department that is responsible for both of these important social policy measures.

Timeline

Tax Credit and Child Benefit Study

Potential policy impact

The findings from this study will be used to make improvements to the delivery of tax credit and Child Benefit by:

identifying the intended outcomes of tax credits and Child Benefit
identifying problems
monitoring the performance of the tax credit and Child Benefit systems
testing new approaches to delivering services.

Method

We are conducting a panel study that will follow the same tax credit and Child Benefit recipients over three years. Respondents are interviewed face to face every year and some respondents are also asked to take part in telephone interviews in between the face to face interviews.