Child Benefit qualifying young person omits the school-leaver conditions (Child Benefit (General) Regulations 2006 regs 4, 5 and 7) #2287

What is wrong

is_qualifying_young_person_for_child_benefit models only the education and training condition (Child Benefit (General) Regulations 2006 reg. 3). The conditions for a young person who has left education are missing:

• Reg. 4. A person under 17 who has left education stays a qualifying young person (QYP) until the 31 August after their 16th birthday.
• Reg. 5. A 16- or 17-year-old registered with the careers service, and not in remunerative work, stays one for a 20-week extension period if the person responsible asks.
• Reg. 7. A person under 20 stays one from leaving education until the terminal date: the end of February, May, August or November, whichever comes first. Reg. 7(3) pays no Child Benefit through this rule in a week of remunerative work.

Housing Benefit, Income Support, income-based JSA, income-related ESA and Council Tax Reduction in England and Wales define their "young person" as this Child Benefit QYP (SSCBA 1992 s.142), so they inherit the gap. The only stand-in today is the all-16-year-olds term in is_responsible_for_child_or_young_person_for_uc_or_housing_benefit.

On main, 2025-26, a lone parent aged 40 with a 16-year-old who has left school gets child_benefit £0 and is not a lone parent for the legacy schemes. The law pays Child Benefit until 31 August and treats her as a lone parent.

The law

Child Benefit (General) Regulations 2006:

• Reg. 2(2): "Where more than one of those regulations apply to a person, he is a qualifying young person until the last of them ceases to be satisfied."
• Reg. 4: "(1) This regulation applies in the case of a person who has not attained the age of 17 and who has left relevant education or training. (2) Subject to paragraph (3), the condition is that the 31st August next following the person's 16th birthday has not passed. (3) In the case of a person who attains the age of 16 on 31 August in any year, the condition is that the 1st September immediately following has not passed."
• Reg. 5: "(1) This regulation applies in the case of a person who has not attained the age of 18. (2) The condition is that— (a) the person has ceased to be in education or training; (b) the person is registered for work, education or for training with a qualifying body; (c) the person is not engaged in remunerative work; (d) the extension period which applies in the case of that person has not expired; (e) immediately before the extension period begins, the person who is responsible for him is entitled to child benefit in respect of him without regard to this regulation; and (f) the individual who is responsible for that person, within three months of that person's ceasing education or training, has made a request for the payment of child benefit during the extension period [...] (3) [...] the extension period— (a) begins on the first day of the week after that in which the person ceased to be in education or training; and (b) ends 20 weeks after it started."
• Reg. 7: "(1) This regulation applies in the case of a person who has not attained the age of 20. (2) The condition is that the period found in accordance with Cases 1 and 2 has not expired in that person's case". Case 1: "from the date on which he ceases to receive relevant education or approved training, up to and including— (a) the week including the terminal date, or (b) if he attains the age of 20 on or before that date, the week including the last Monday before he attains that age." The terminal date is "(a) the last day in February, (b) the last day in May, (c) the last day in August, (d) the last day in November, whichever first occurs after the date on which the person's relevant education or approved training ceased". "(3) Child benefit is not payable in respect of a qualifying young person by virtue of this regulation for any week in which he is engaged in remunerative work."
• Reg. 1(3): "“remunerative work” means work of not less than 24 hours a week— (a) in respect of which payment is made; or (b) which is done in expectation of payment".
• Reg. 8: the person must not be receiving income support, income-based JSA, incapacity benefit, a tax credit, ESA or universal credit.

Fix

Add the three conditions to the QYP test:

• reg. 4 from is_before_first_september_following_16th_birthday (added in Count 16-year-olds outside education as UC and Pension Credit qualifying young persons until the 1 September after their 16th birthday #2279; Child Benefit's 31 August falls in the same fiscal year as Universal Credit's 1 September);
• regs 5 and 7 from two new inputs, false by default, because surveys record neither the careers-service registration nor the leaving date.

Apply reg. 7(3) to the Child Benefit amount only: the young person stays a QYP for the legacy schemes.

Needs #2279 (the date fact) and #2285 (so a 16-year-old who heads their own benefit unit is not paid Child Benefit for themselves).