Basic State Pension
What is the basic State Pension?
The Government pays the basic State Pension to people who claim it and have reached State Pension age. You qualify for it by:
- paying;
- being treated as having paid; or
- being credited with
National Insurance contributions for a minimum number of years.
Find out more about paying National Insurance
From April 2010, you may be credited with contributions for periods when you were:
- receiving Child Benefit for a child under 12
- caring for a sick or disabled person for at least 20 hours
- an approved foster carer
If you reach state pension age on or after 6 April 2010, periods for which you have been awarded HRP before this date will be converted to credits.
Most employers will take your National Insurance contributions straight out of your wages. You can see how much you're paying on your payslip. Your employer also pays National Insurance for you. If you are self-employed, it is your responsibility to make sure you pay your own National Insurance contributions.
If you haven’t always worked you may still be able to receive credits for periods when you’ve been out of work, had long-term illnesses and injuries, or been getting Carer’s Allowance because you are caring for someone who is seriously sick or disabled. This means that the Government will add some contributions to your National Insurance record for you – so you will still be building up a State Pension for those years.
You may also get help from Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) to protect your basic State Pension if you are:
- caring for a child under 16 and you receive Child Benefit
- caring for a sick or disabled person
- an approved foster carer
HRP does not credit you with National Insurance contributions, but it does reduce the number of years that you need to have paid contributions to get a State Pension.