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Sign up now5 ways to boost your state pension
Almost half of those receiving the new state pension didn't get the full amount last year
Just under 150,000 pensioners received less than £100 a week in state pension payments last year, according to analysis by Royal London.
In 2023-24 the state pension was worth £203.85 a week, but the pensions firm found just over half of retirees received the full amount, while 49% had to make do with less.
Here, Which? explains how the state pension is calculated and reveals five ways to help you boost your state pension income to try to get the full rate.
How the state pension is calculated
The state pension rules changed radically on 6 April 2016 for men born on or after 6 April 1951 and women born on or after 6 April 1953. There is a 'single-tier' pension payment for people in this age group with a 'full level'.
In 2024-25, the full level of the new state pension is £221.20 a week or £11,502.40 a year.
To get any state pension at all, you need 10 years of National Insurance contributions. And you only qualify for a full state pension once you have 35 years' worth of National Insurance contributions (subject to your contracting-out history).
Because of the changes to the state pension, you can no longer build up an additional state pension - nor can you 'contract out' of it to get a higher private pension.
- Find out more: how much state pension will I get?
How many pensioners are missing out?
Royal London found 1,737,342 of 3,407,567 of those receiving the new pension received the full weekly amount last year.
In 2023-24, the state pension was worth £203.85 a week.
Royal London said 149,317 pensioners were paid less than £100 a week, 17,546 were receiving less than £20 a week, and worryingly, 5,677 people were receiving less than £10 a week.
The following table shows what pensioners received last year.
| State pension weekly amount | Total |
|---|---|
| £0-9.99 | 5,677 |
| £10-19.99 | 11,869 |
| £20-29.99 | 9,083 |
| £30-39.99 | 6,795 |
| £40-49.99 | 9,218 |
| £50-59.99 | 15,900 |
| £60-69.99 | 20,728 |
Analysis by Royal London. DWP referred Royal London to data source Stat-Xplore, from which data was extracted. Data quoted is for the quarter May 2023.
- Find out more: how much could the state pension pay in 2025?
Why do some pensioners receive less?
According to Royal London, one of the main reasons people miss out is because they have gaps in their National Insurance record and may not realise until it's too late to do anything.
Sarah Pennells, consumer finance specialist at Royal London, added: ‘You may have National Insurance gaps because, for example, you were working but had low earnings, were unemployed but didn’t claim benefits, were a high earner with young children who didn’t register for child benefit, or because you were working abroad.’
A spokesman from the DWP added: 'There are a variety of reasons why some pensioners have a lower state pension – including contracting out and paying less National Insurance contributions – which is why we encourage those on the lowest incomes to claim for pension credit, worth on average £3,900 per year.'
Under the old state pension rules, you were able to 'contract out' of the additional state pension. Contracting out ended in April 2016, but your contracting-out history will still impact how much state pension you get under both the old and the new system.
- Find out more: your state pension forecast explained
5 ways to boost your state pension income
There may be ways you can boost your state pension income.
1. Fill in missing NI gaps
If your National Insurance record is incomplete you can make up one or more qualifying years by paying voluntary contributions - known as Class 3 contributions.
You can usually pay voluntary contributions for the past six years. The deadline is 5 April each year. So you normally have until 5 April 2025 to make up for gaps for the tax year 2018-19.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) temporarily relaxed this rule back in 2014, allowing some people to fill gaps for any year from 2006-07 onwards. The rule was changed so those reaching state pension age in the early years of the new state pension, which came into force in April 2016, had an extended opportunity to assess whether they would be able to improve how much they got under the new system. The deadline for this group of people to act was meant to be April 2023 but was extended. So this group can currently pay for gaps from more than six years ago until 5 April 2025.
Voluntary contributions won't always increase your state pension, so you'll need to find out if you'll benefit from plugging the gaps.
This year the government launched an online tool which makes it easier for savers to check and fill any gaps in their NI record.
- Find out more: should I top up my state pension?
2. Claim free NI credits for raising kids
Parents who receive child benefit and are caring for a child under the age of 12 receive Class 3 National Insurance credits automatically.
Many women have missed out on this in the past because their husbands claimed child benefits rather than them. Others may have missed out when they opted out of child benefit after the introduction of the high-income child benefit tax charge.
However, you can register for child benefit without claiming the cash, so you still get credits towards your pension.
Grandparents and other family members aged over 16 but under the state pension age who provide care for a child aged under 12 may also be able to get Class 3 Specified Adult National Insurance credits. These are not credited automatically and need to be applied for (using form CF411A).
- Find out more: National Insurance, benefits and the state pension
3. Defer your state pension
If you have other sources of retirement income, such as a private pension, or you’re still in employment, you could consider deferring your state pension.
If you reached the state pension age on or after 6 April 2016, it will increase every week you defer, as long as you defer for at least nine weeks.
It will increase by the equivalent of 1% for every nine weeks you defer. This works out as just under 5.8% for every 52 weeks.
- Find out more: should I defer my state pension?
4. Check for state pension errors
Many pensioners have been left short-changed due to a combination of complex rules about entitlements under the old state pension system, and computer errors made by the DWP.
The DWP is in the process of repaying a large number of parents, mostly mothers, who were underpaid their state pension due to an error relating to 'Home Responsibilities Protection' (HRP), which is missing from their National Insurance record.
The HRP error is in addition to the current correction exercise - known as a Legal Entitlements and Administrative Practices (LEAP) process – to correct the official errors where some groups of pensioners were found to have underpaid their state pension.
To date, the government has repaid £594m to 99,558 individuals who were underpaid their state pension due to system errors. This total includes around 44,000 married women, 23,000 widows/widowers and 33,000 people over 80.
Last month, former pensions minister Sir Steve Webb urged widows and widowers to check they are being paid the correct amount following concerns those who were widowed before retiring were being paid the wrong amount.
- Find out more: new state pension error impacting widows
5. Apply for pension credit
If you're on a low income, there is help available to boost your state pension.
This comes in the form of pension credit. Pension credit is a means-tested benefit, meaning it's awarded based on income. It's made up of two parts: guarantee credit and savings credit.
You may be eligible for one or both:
- Guarantee credit tops up your weekly income to £218.15 for single people and £332.95 for couples in 2024-25.
- The maximum savings credit you can get per week is £17.01 for a single person and £19.04 for couples.
Pension credit is also a gateway to other benefits, such as a free TV licence and this year’s winter fuel payment.
- Find out more: 8 things to know about pension credit
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