2022/23

• The basic State Pension is a regular payment from the government that an individual may be entitled to when they reach State Pension age .
• The basic State Pension depends on the number of years an individual has paid National Insurance or has National Insurance credits, eg while unemployed or claiming certain benefits.
• To receive the basic State Pension an individual must have paid or been credited with National Insurance contributions (NIC).
• In 2016 the State Pension was reformed into a single-tier new State Pension. In order to benefit from the full amount the individual will need 35 years, rather than the previous 30 years of NIC or credits for the full amount, with pro-rating where 35 years is not achieved. You will usually need 10 qualifying years to get any State Pension. The amount an individual receives can be higher or lower depending on their National Insurance record. It will only be higher if you have over a certain amount of Additional State Pension.
• Currently an individual may also be entitled to the Additional State Pension. How much an individual gets depends on the number of qualifying years of NIC, the amount of earnings and whether the individual has been contracted out of the scheme.