Claiming extra pension after paying a reduced NI stamp in the 70’s.

I would think it unlikely. The choice was pay less receive less or pay more receive more

The Government at the time said that those years spent in Home Responsibilites, where we were looking after our children, would not affect our pension and neither would paying the married woman's stamp when we went back to work.
Both promises have turned out to be lies. I doubt very much that you will get anything and if like me you were born before the WASPI women then your pension isn't much by comparison. If by some miracle you do get a result, please post on GN so those of us in the same boat can try our luck. All the best!

The married woman's "Stamp", NI contributions stopped in 1977. Think some employers were aware of the changes, I had a "brief" marriage in the 70's and was told it wasn't advisable.

If you had or have Child Benefit you can: apply for credits missing from your National Insurance record. However, now it only applies until the child is 12 year old.

I have a friend who didn't work for years bringing up her children, she had big gaps between her 3, she gets the full pension, as her "family allowance" contributions counted.

Martin Lewis has been urging the relevant people to try to claim. There was a process of all the people being traced and reimbursed, but there were so many cases that they couldn't cope so they have stopped notifying anyone! There are cases involving thousands of pounds being successfully claimed.

Why am I always just outside the age range for claiming or being entitled to increased pension?

www.bing.com/search?q=martin+lewis+home+responsibilities+protection&form=ANNTH1&refig=6898c25479874d86983c174cfdd92db6&pc=LCTS&pq=martin+lewis+home+responsibilities&pqlth=34&assgl=45&sgcn=martin+lewis+home+responsibilities+protection&qs=AS&sgtpv=AS&smvpcn=0&swbcn=10&sctcn=0&sc=10-34&sp=1&ghc=0&cvid=6898c25479874d86983c174cfdd92db6&clckatsg=1&hsmssg=0

no doubt if your income is too low you would be eligible for state benefits ?

If with the low pension you have been given it doesn’t match the cost of living, and you have little or no other income you can claim Pension Credit. This should bring you up to NEAR a full Pension. Depends on your circumstances.
www.gov.uk/pension-credit/eligibility

Also if you are a widow you can claim your husbands pension allowances.
I tried for this but I was divorced and he married again, then divorced, then died, so no chance
Look into both options.
As someone mentioned MSE ( Martin Lewis’s website ) no doubt has useful info on both those possibilities.
I actually spoke to someone in the Government dept who deals with this …eventually got to the right place, and they were very helpful. Not sure if that is the case now!
Do look into this. Age Uk and similar organisations are also helpful. Good Luck.

I have applied for this and am waiting for a reply.
Not sure if I qualify, but no harm in asking.

I stayed at home for five years after my daughter was born in 1981.

I was a stay at home mum in the 90s for over 10years, my stamp was covered in full.

Greciangirl

I have applied for this and am waiting for a reply.
Not sure if I qualify, but no harm in asking.

I stayed at home for five years after my daughter was born in 1981.

You only get it for full tax years.
My daughter was born at the end of April 1981 and that tax year didn't count.
My son was born in October 1984 and that tax year didn't count.
However over the course of my working life I paid enough years of contributions to now receive the full (new) state pension.
If you have a Government Gateway account you can check your contributions record and it will tell you if you can make up any missing years (or not, if they're too long ago).

Maria59

I would think it unlikely. The choice was pay less receive less or pay more receive more

Your thinking is wrong, and out of date.

Around 15 years ago I was able to convert some of my old "small stamp " contribution years (did not count for SP ) into fully paid up years, resulting in a better state pension ( backdated!) That was the first govt initiative to improve the pension position of affected women. The costs of "buying back" those years has been an excellent investment

The OP is talking about a different Govt mission to identify many "small stamp" women whose contribution years were were wrongly calculated, resulting in big losses to their SP.
They can now get their record checked and corrected to receive the correct SP.

Sorry, not "small stamp" women; it's women whose Home Responsibility years were miscounted.

I was (stupidly) advised to opt for the married woman's reduced NI. Trouble was, that meant the home-care child-raising years somehow didn't count. Pension-wise, I'd have been better off if I'd never, ever worked.

Paperbackwriter

I was (stupidly) advised to opt for the married woman's reduced NI. Trouble was, that meant the home-care child-raising years somehow didn't count. Pension-wise, I'd have been better off if I'd never, ever worked.

Paperbackwriter, my friend seems to think this is the case for her too; I didn't quite understand it, and it was me that advised her to check. She doesn't understand it either. Is it the case that if you previously paid a small stamp, they assume you would carry on even if you subsequently paid a full stamp after childcare responsibilities? You are the first person I have seen with the same issue.

Paperbackwriter

I was (stupidly) advised to opt for the married woman's reduced NI. Trouble was, that meant the home-care child-raising years somehow didn't count. Pension-wise, I'd have been better off if I'd never, ever worked.

That doesn't sound right to me Paperbackwriter.
Do make fresh enquiries.
Seems to me if you were in receipt of "family allowance" then credits should have been given for these years.

Re:claiming husband's pension allowance when widowed. If only you could. My husband of 55 years worked all his life had a good state pension. No way was I awarded this. Something like a fifth was added to mine. Have I been cheated? Also went on government site to check my own contributions in 70s stay at home for 6 years worked the rest. Full record, no entitlement to any payment.

I'm about to try. I live in NL now. They can only say no. I'll post any result I get, good or bad.

My SIL is absolutely incensed that I get a full pension.
I had always paid ‘full stamp’. She did not, and gets rather less (I'm not privy to how much). She looked into it extensively, but never got anywhere. Our working/child rearing years were very similar, working from age 16 to 60.

I think you’re referring to Pension Credit.
I’ve filled in the forms for a couple of people. It’s not difficult.

4allweknow - When my DH died in ‘21, I got an extra £4 a week on my pension. I wrote last year and again this to have that checked as I’d heard of widows getting far more. Eventually, I rang DWP and spoke to a lovely lady who explained that any award from DH’s pension would only take me up to the (old) basic level of pension and not beyond it.

My mum doesn't get much state pension. My Dad farmed and he paid self-employed stamp, she also worked long hours on the farm & paying help's wages etc, but she never paid a stamp. She may have got some credits when she was bringing up my brother & I, & before she married at 21, but that's all.
She did work far harder than her sisters & I remember once having tonsillitis & being off primary school, would be sept/ oct & I was huddled in the corner of the trailer under a heap of coats because she had to help with the apples. One of the most miserable days of my life.

butterandjam

Maria59

I would think it unlikely. The choice was pay less receive less or pay more receive more

Your thinking is wrong, and out of date.

Around 15 years ago I was able to convert some of my old "small stamp " contribution years (did not count for SP ) into fully paid up years, resulting in a better state pension ( backdated!) That was the first govt initiative to improve the pension position of affected women. The costs of "buying back" those years has been an excellent investment

The OP is talking about a different Govt mission to identify many "small stamp" women whose contribution years were were wrongly calculated, resulting in big losses to their SP.
They can now get their record checked and corrected to receive the correct SP.

Years ago I was invited to pay a shortfall - although while working I had paid the full stamp. I asked for the figure, fearing it would be high, and it was £60. Needless to say I paid at once, but I receive the 'old' state pension, and those born later get around £200 a month more. When I queried this I was informed that I had got my pension at sixty, and would therefore still be 'quids in'!

V3ra

Greciangirl

I have applied for this and am waiting for a reply.
Not sure if I qualify, but no harm in asking.

I stayed at home for five years after my daughter was born in 1981.

You only get it for full tax years.
My daughter was born at the end of April 1981 and that tax year didn't count.
My son was born in October 1984 and that tax year didn't count.
However over the course of my working life I paid enough years of contributions to now receive the full (new) state pension.
If you have a Government Gateway account you can check your contributions record and it will tell you if you can make up any missing years (or not, if they're too long ago).

Yes, I noticed that, something I hadn't realised before.

If you were in receipt of Child Benefit, which everyone who was the main carer for a child or children was entitled to, then your stamp should have been paid from 1978. Before that, there was no HRP.

PaperbackWriter
I was (stupidly) advised to opt for the married woman's reduced NI. Trouble was, that meant the home-care child-raising years somehow didn't count. Pension-wise, I'd have been better off if I'd never, ever worked.
I and others were told to opt for that stamp by our employer, presumably because they didn't have to pay as much Employer's contribution either. 'You will still receive your pension', we were told.

You should have received HRP from April 1978 when it was introduced, if you had dependent children.

If you go on the Government Gateway you can find your contribution record.

kjmpde

no doubt if your income is too low you would be eligible for state benefits ?

IF you are single there is a pension credit application if you have nothing else - worth a check www.gov.uk/pension-credit/eligibility

I’ve filled in the form but haven’t heard anything yet.
Why on earth doesn’t everyone just get the same amount of pension. Would make life so much easier.