Eligibility
You’ll be able to claim the New State Pension if you’re:
- A man born on or after 6 April 1951
- A woman born on or after 6 April 1953
The earliest you can get the new State Pension is when you reach State Pension age.
If you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016, these rules do not apply. Instead, you’ll get the basic State Pension.
Your National Insurance records
You’ll usually need at least 10 qualifying years on your National Insurance record to get any State Pension. They do not have to be 10 qualifying years in a row.
What you’ll get
Your State Pension amount depends on your National Insurance record. Check your State Pension forecast to find out how much you could get and when.
The full New State Pension is £185.15 per week. You can still get a State Pension if you have other income like a personal pension or a workplace pension. You might have to pay tax on your State Pension.
How it’s calculated
- The full new State Pension is £185.15 per week. What you’ll receive is based on your National Insurance record.
- You’ll usually need at least 10 qualifying years on your National Insurance record to get any State Pension.
- You’ll need 35 qualifying years to get the full new State Pension.
- You’ll get a proportion of the new State Pension if you have between 10 and 35 qualifying years.
- Each qualifying year on your National Insurance record after 5 April 2016 will add about £5.29 a week to your new State Pension. The exact amount you get is calculated by dividing £185.15 by 35 and then multiplying by the number of qualifying years after 5 April 2016.
Annual increases
The new State Pension increases each year by whichever is the highest:
- Earnings – the average percentage growth in wages (in Great Britain)
- Prices – the percentage growth in prices in the UK as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI)
- 5%
If you have a protected payment, it increases each year in line with the CPI.
What is Qualifying years?
(i) If you’re working
When you’re working you pay National Insurance and get a qualifying year if:
- You’re employed and earning over £242 a week from one employer
- You’re self-employed and paying National Insurance contributions
You might not pay National Insurance contributions because you’re earning less than £242 a week. You may still get a qualifying year if you earn between £123 and £242 a week from one employer.
(ii) If you’re not working
You may get National Insurance credits if you cannot work – for example because of illness or disability, or if you’re a career or you’re unemployed.
For example, you can get National Insurance credits if you:
- Claim Child Benefit for a child under 12 (or under 16 before 2010)
- Get Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance
- Get Career’s Allowance
(iii) You’re not working or getting National Insurance credits
You might be able to pay voluntary National Insurance contributions if you’re not in one of these groups but want to increase your State Pension amount.