Pensions Bill amendment benefits women
Women will soon be able to claim a higher state pension.
An amendment to the Pensions Bill is currently going through the UK Parliament that will allow people to buy up to six extra years of voluntary National Insurance (NI) contributions – allowing women and carers to collect a higher state pension.
The amendment applies to those who reach State Pension age – 65 for men and 60 for women – between 6 April 2008 and 5 April 2015.
Currently, people are able to ‘buy back’ up to six years of NI contributions to make up for times when they have been unable to pay contributions. The new proposal will enable people to claim an extra six years, on top of the current limit.
Also included within the proposal is that the number of NI-paying years needed to collect a full basic State Pension will be reduced to 30 for both sexes (the number currently stands at 39 for women and 44 for men).
James Purnell, Secretary of State, said: “Since 1997 we have reduced absolute pensioner poverty by 1.9 million and our radical reforms of the State Pension have made it fairer, more generous and more widely available. By 2010 around 75% of women reaching State Pension Age will be entitled to a full Basic State Pension, rising to over 90% by 2025, compared to around 35% today.”
The aim of the proposal is to offer a fairer deal for women and carers, who have incomplete NI records because they have been out of work looking after others.
To find out more, members of the public can ring 020 7712 2171.
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I am confused as to the period during which missed years contributions exist can be made up by these additional six years. Some reports state that these will have to be missed after 1975. However for a women to reach pension age between 2008 and 2015 she could have been born as early as April 1948. This means that she could legally have started a family at the age of 16 years, or in 1964. It is possible that many women left school, went to college (as I did) and started a family several years before 1975. Family Allowance as it was then called was not paid for the first child and Home Responsibilty Protection came into effect I believe in 1975. I will have earned 34 years contributions between 1975 and 2010 (my pension year) and earned two years contributions before 1975. I am therefore three years short for a full pension. Please confirm what this reference to 1975 is, or is it just mis-reporting. If I can claim my three years from before 1975 I can gain a full pension. Your advice would be appreciated. Thank you, Elizabeth Jones.
October 24th, 2008 at 6:12 pmThank you for your comment Elizabeth.
The Department for Work and Pensions has a dedicated phone number for public enquiries about the new Pensions Bill amendment. Please call 020 7712 2171 and they should be able to advise you further.
Susanna
October 27th, 2008 at 3:45 pm