Qualifying for the new State Pension

You usually need to have paid NICs for at least 10 years to qualify for any new State Pension (compared to the one year you needed to qualify for the Basic State Pension). You need to build up 35 years’ of NICs before you qualify for the full new State Pension (it was 30 years to qualify for the former Basic State Pension). If you have between 10 and 34 years of contributions you receive a graduated lower amount.

You still build up state pension-qualifying years even if you take time out from working to raise a family. This wasn’t previously the case. Pension eligibility is on an individual basis which means married women without enough qualifying years no longer receive a proportion of their husband’s entitlement when he dies.