How is my basic State Pension worked out?
People get different amounts of State Pension depending on how many years they have paid, been treated as having paid or been credited with National Insurance contributions. These are known as qualifying years.
Because men and women have different State Pension ages at the moment, the number of qualifying years for a full basic State Pension is currently different:
- Women must normally have between 39 and 44 qualifying years to get a full State Pension, depending on the date they reach their State Pension age
- Men must normally have 44 qualifying years to get a full State Pension
- To get the minimum basic State Pension (25% of a full basic State Pension) you normally need 10 or 11 qualifying years, depending on your State Pension age. If you have fewer qualifying years than this, you will not normally get a basic State Pension
- If you have Home Responsibilities Protection, the number of qualifying years you will need to get a State Pension will be reduced
People reaching state pension age after 6 April 2010 will only need 30 qualifying years. Any HRP they have been awarded will be converted to credits.
If you want to increase your qualifying years, you may be able to pay voluntary National Insurance contributions to increase the amount of basic State Pension you receive. However, once you are receiving the full State Pension (or are entitled to receive it), you can't add more.
The number of qualifying years needed for a full basic State Pension will be reduced to 30 for people who reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2010.