Just half of people on new state pension get full amount

Millions of people receive the state pension State pensioners have been urged to check if they are entitled to more payments as only half of people on the new state pension get the full amount. A Freedom of Information request found around 1.5 million of the 3.1 million people on the new state pension received the full amount in November 2022. For those on the basic state pension at that time, some 2.5 million people out of 9.6 million people were on less than the full amount. Researchers at Responsible Life put in the request for the figures. The group’s executive chairman, Steve Wilkie, said: ‘The state pension makes an important contribution to most people’s finances in retirement, and knowing how much they’ll receive is crucial when planning for the future. ‘The state pension changes made by the Government, creating a ‘single tier’ pension, were designed to make things simpler. READ MOR Government may have to hike taxes to pay for state pension [LATEST] Millions of people receive the state pension ‘But that doesn’t appear to be the case on this evidence. These figures suggest there is a knowledge and information gap around the state pension, and people overestimate how much they think they’re going to receive because they don’t understand how the contributory benefit is calculated.’ The full new state pension is currently £203.85 a week and a person usually needs 35 years of National Insurance contributions to secure the full amount. The full basic state pension is £156.20 a week and an individual usually needs 30 years of contributions to get this. Millions of people receive the state pension SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info People sometimes have gaps in their National Insurance record because they were out of work for a while or working abroad, and so not paying into the system. A person can check how much they are on track to receive using the Government state pension forecast tool. A person with gaps in their record may have the option to voluntarily pay contributions and so potentially increase their state pension payments. Trending