I'm sure somebody will correct me if I'm wrong but it's the EU rules that are to blame, ( we can blame our government for keeping us in the EU when all we do is pay out for it. ). You can claim child benefit if you are an EU citizen wherever you are in Europe. I think the problem arises because the payment is made depending where the claimant is living, not where the child is living. As the benefit is a percentage of the average income for the country concerned it is obvious we pay out more than other countries where the national income isn't as high.
As bad as it is that other EU citizens are taking benefits from us, there are probably a damn site more non EU residents taking our benefits which wouldn't be the case if we went to live in their countries.
