A MOTHER has revealed that she used her child benefits to go on a shopping spree in Primark – and it’s left people totally divided.
Olivia Poole, a mother from the UK, claimed that she used her own hard-earned money to stock up on bits for her kids, but soon realised that she needed some new clothes.
As a result, after receiving her child benefit payment, the content creator, who has 15,100 followers on TikTok, took herself to Primark to stock up her wardrobe.
Posting on social media, the mum-of-two who will be receiving £43.30 every month in child benefit, shared her clip with the caption “I really don’t understand the issue with spending child benefit on yourself if you spend money through the month on your children for the things child benefit is “for”.”
Child benefit is designed to help cover the cost of raising a family and you can claim the allowance for any child aged under 16.
It’s paid every four weeks and as of April 6, 2025, the weekly rate has increased from £25.60 to £26.05 for the eldest child and from £16.95 to £17.25 for each extra child.
If your child stays in approved education (such as doing A-levels or Scottish Highers), you can keep claiming until your child is 20.
If they leave approved education, for instance to go to university, you will stop receiving the money.
While anyone can claim the benefit, if you or your partner earn £60,000 or more, you have to start paying some of the money back.
Once either of you earns over £80,000 (individually) you have to pay all of it back.
Olivia explained: “I used my child benefit today to get myself some clothes and I don’t see there’s anything wrong with that.”
She then stressed: “Throughout the month, I use my money to buy the kids clothes, to buy the kids nappies, the kids’ wipes, everything that your child benefit is meant for.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”I’m trolled for my messy council house – people call us ‘benefits scroungers’ ” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6357107573112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]“But when I did receive the child benefit today, I knew I needed some more clothes, so why shouldn’t I use it?”
As Olivia headed to Primark, she acknowledged: “I received it today and I wanted to spend it.”
In the short video, viewers saw the influencer look at the high-street chain’s linen trousers and £14 summer tops.
[quote credit=”Olivia Poole”]I did end up getting myself some clothes and yeah, I don’t see anything wrong[/quote]Not only this, but she also picked up a pair of grey tracksuit shorts, two packs of five pack thongs and a set of two crop tops for £5.
She then added: “I did end up getting myself some clothes and yeah, I don’t see anything wrong.”
[authenticated-scripts src=”%3Cscript%20class%3D%22palin-poll%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.co.uk%2Fpollingwidgets%2Fv3%2Fwidget.js%3Fquestion_id%3D111586%26game%3Dpolling%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E” type=”embedded” width=”100″ /]Big divide
The TikTok clip, which was posted under the username @livcolettepoole, has clearly left many open-mouthed, as it has quickly amassed 58,600 views, 965 likes and 113 comments in just 24 hours.
But social media users were left totally divided by Olivia’s claims – whilst some thought Olivia had every right to ‘treat’ herself, others weren’t on the same page.
One person said: “Treat yourself girl! We spend on our kids everyday, sometimes you need to treat yourself!”
Another added: “As long as the kids have everything they need, the bills are paid and there’s food in the house there is NOTHING wrong with buying yourself stuff. Go you mama. Show us what you got!”
A third commented: “You need clothes too.”
[quote credit=”TikTok user “]It’s not for you that’s why it’s called child benefit!!!!!!![/quote]However, at the same time, not everyone was as kind, as one user snapped: “No you are wrong. The child benefits are for the child not you.
“If you didn’t have the kids, you wouldn’t have the child benefits. What you should do is set up a bank account and put the money in there for them.”
A second chimed in and slammed: “It’s not for you that’s why it’s called child benefit!!!!!!!”
Whilst someone else simply penned: “On your kids, not you.”
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