MSE News
State pension age rises to 66
The official state pension age has now hit 66 – and is set to rise further in the coming years.
People born between 6 October 1954 and 5 April 1960 will be eligible to start receiving a state pension on their 66th birthday, after years of steady increases to the state pension age.
The full state pension is worth £175.20 per week for new recipients, though the actual amount you'll get will depend on your national insurance (NI) record.
The new state pension age applies to both men and women, though women previously would have received their state pensions earlier than men. The rising pension age for women has been fought by campaign groups, which say the speed of the changes has caught millions unaware and will leave many women born in the 1950s worse off – though two women recently lost their Court of Appeal challenge against the state pension age rise.
And the state pension age is set to increase further to 67 by 2029, with another rise to 68 due between 2037 and 2039. You can use the Government's state pension timetable to find out when you could be eligible.
See our State Pension guide for more info on what you could be entitled to and how to boost it.
How much state pension will I get?
Once you've reached state pension age, what you get depends on how many so-called 'qualifying years' of NI contributions you have. These are earned over your lifetime, and build up when you're working or as credits if you're raising a family, caring for someone who is sick or has a disability, or enrolled in full-time training.
You'll need at least 10 qualifying years to get any state pension, and 35 to get the full £175.20 per week. We've full details of how it works in our State Pension guide.
You can also get an estimate of your individual state pension based on your current NI record through a Government tool. Bear in mind this is only an estimate and what you actually receive when you retire may be different, especially if the pension system changes again in the future.
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