What is the basic state pension?
The basic state pension is paid to women at 60 and men at 65, who fulfil National Insurance (NI) contribution requirements. From 6 April 2020, the state pension age for both men and women will be 65. The government will introduce the change gradually from age 60 to 65 for women over a 10-year period from 2010 to 2020 How much is it worth? The full weekly rates are (year to April 2003): • Single person 75.50 • Wife on husband’s contributions 45.20 • Married couple on husband’s contributions 120.70 • Married couple if both paid full contributions 151.00 Will I get the full basic state pension? Not necessarily. What you get will depend on your National Insurance (NI) contributions – and the rules are stringent. Your pension depends on how long you have worked for and the number of “qualifying years” you have. A woman with a working life of 44 years will need 39 qualifying years for a full pension and a man with a working life of 49 years will need 44 qualifying years. However, the contrib
