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.