No, you won't be getting an EXTRA £105 a week.

silverlining48

There certainly is a big gap between the pre and post April 2016 pensions. It is about £50 per week, £200 per month, with no plan for parity.
With annual % increases the gap will widen still further.
We get one of the lowest pensions in Western Europe, always have, probably always will.

Yes, women being shafted again. My DH and I are the same age, and I deferred my pension to wait a short while for him.

I get the old one, with a bump for deferring. He gets the new one. He gets a full % increase, but I get it only on the base of mine, not on SSP, or deferred. So gradually his is getting more

The whole point of the pension being a benefit is that when you think about having paid in all your working life, that NI contribution also entitled you to unemployment benefit if you became unemployed and other benefits for which you needed to have paid in NI. People who have no contributions are entitled to different benefits when unemployed than those with NI contributions - that certainly ussed to be the case, though I don't know if it is the same since universal credit came in. NI payments were not a personal pot into which you paid like private contributory pensions are.

A friend of mine was widowed about two years ago. His late wife didn't reach pension age so he feels aggrieved that he gets nothing from all the contributions she paid in NI all her working life. However it's no different to someone who works all their life and never gets unemployment benefit. Basically they never met the conditions required to receive it.

Unfortunately there do seem to be unfairnesses in the benefit system. No system designed to protect the whole population is likely to seem fair to everyone as we all have different circumstances. As 'Scar - in the Lion King' said "Life's not fair!".

I'm a WASPI and retired at 66 as I couln't afford to retire until I was due my state pension as my other pensions are very small. I'm a divorcee with a mortgage which ends when I'm 79! Although I'm struggling financially, I know there are many worse off than I am. Comparing the old and new pensions is simply not comparing like with like. Many people on the old pension get a much bigger state pension than I do as they benefit from SERPS etc however I benefit from home responsibilities credits having been a stay at home mum for quite a few years. There are winners and losers in every scheme but whatever the government do there will be some who think things are unfair. We just have to get on with things as they are.

There are always misleading headings around. One that turns up regularly tells you to check because you may be eligible for the heating allowance after all. It's just a reminder about pension credit, but it's made to sound as if it's something new.

Tinlizzy67

I dont understand why our pensions vary so much. It seems that people born after 1956 get much more than a person born pre 1956. A friend recently shared that she got just over £450 more a week than I do because in her day they had SERPS. She doesnt have any pension credits either. Beyond me!

The pensions vary due to the fact that prior to 2016 it was earnings related with SERPS and S2P. This has been abolished and it is now a flat rate pension, or will be once the transitional arrangements have worked their way through the system which won't be complete for many decades.

silverlining48

I worked and paid NI for 45 years, retiring before 2016 so get the old pension.
The new pension just needs 35 years of contribution. That doesn’t seem at all fair. Can you please explain Doodle.

The new pension is only 35 years for those starting contributing after 2016, for everyone else it can be anywhere from 29 years to 52 years to qualify for the new state pension. The new pension is not £230 a week, that is the maximum amount and only around half of pensioners get that amount. The old pension had an earnings related element that could take it up to £390 a week. The new pension benefits the lower paid and women will gain under the new system as it is no longer earnings related. The average gap between the two pensions is quite small. In 2024 the average new pension was £207.53 whilst the average of the old pension was £198.68.

I have had a look and the average full pension on the old pre 2016 rate is £176.45 pw.
The average full pension on the new post 2016 rate is £230.45. Pw.
Still an average £50 pw difference.
I am on the old pension and thought I got £169 which if I was on my own would barely cover council tax and energy bills but apparently it’s increased by a few pounds to £176 which frankly won’t make much of a difference.
£176 pw roughly equates to £4 per hour fir a 40 hour week. A quarter of the minimum wage.
We all have to pay the same for food clothes and bills so a two tier pension is just unfair. Both pensions should be equalised, not by taking anything from younger pensioners but upping the lower rate to give parity.
I feel very sorry for those (literally) poor souls who retired just before April 2016 on this appallingly low rate.
Most Western European countries have much higher pensions than we have here. Just asking for fairness.

I was outraged when I was awarded 25p per week after turning 80. This derisory slap-in-the-face is useless and, together with with £10 at Christmas should be stopped.
This country is broke and broken and public funds should be going where they are desperately needed, not to every old person from the King down.

No. That is not the average pension under each system. It is the maximum full pension someone would get if they had paid (or been credited) with the number of years required to get a full pension.

The old system IS a two-tier system - basic pension and additional state pension. The new system is a single-tier system.

You need to try to think about this differently. Someone under the old system could have a two-tier pension of almost £400 pw, £176.45 plus £221.10 additional state pension through paying into SERPS/SSP. Why do you think that is? Why are they getting so much more than you are and are you complaining about it?

www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-and-pension-rates-2025-to-2026/benefit-and-pension-rates-2025-to-2026#state-pension

If you only receive £169 compared to the full basic rate of £176.45 then there will be a reason for that shortfall. Either you are short on contribution years, didn’t pay SERPS or were contracted out of SERPS (and so have a private pension) or paid married woman’s stamp for some years.

If someone has an income of only £169 they could claim Pension Credit to bring their income up to £227.10 pw (at current rates). This would be just £3.15 pw less than someone receiving full new State Pension*. However, unlike them they would have been able to claim (last year) Winter Fuel Payment of £200 or £300 depending on age, Warm Home Discount of £150 plus help with dental and eye care and a free TV licence if over 75 - making them better off than the person receiving new State Pension.

* The rate of Pension Credit is deliberately kept just below the full rate of the new State Pension so that those receiving the latter that are prevented from claiming those other benefits

Now that WFP has been reinstated (for people with an income up to £35,000), the person receiving Pension Credit will still get the Warm Home Discount and the other benefits.

For someone reaching SP age after 5 April 2016, but with NIC paid before and after that date, DWP do two calculations to see if they would have been better off under the old or new systems. If some would have been better off under the old system, because they paid into SERPS, they have a protected payment.

Ask yourself this. If everybody reaching SP age after 5 April 2016 was better off under the new system there would be no need to do the two calculations, would there?

Someone whose entire working life is after 5 April 2016 will never be able to build an additional state pension. It is a single-tier pension. It was introduced to save the government money as paying the State Pension becomes more and more unsustainable.

And, as I explained above, older pensioners have much better spousal inheritance rights than younger pensioners. Depending on age, someone on the old system might be able to inherit their late spouse’s basic pension to top up their own to £176.45 a week (at current rates) and 100% of their SERPS. People reaching SP age after 5 April 2016 cannot inherit any of their late spouse’s basic pension and only 50% of their SERPS. Those who were under 55 when they were widowed get far less than that, even nothing.

silverlining48

There certainly is a big gap between the pre and post April 2016 pensions. It is about £50 per week, £200 per month, with no plan for parity.
With annual % increases the gap will widen still further.
We get one of the lowest pensions in Western Europe, always have, probably always will.

Depends on your contributions and if you were contracted in or out
I'm on the old pension and get more than the new pension.

PaynesGrey

No. That is not the average pension under each system. It is the maximum full pension someone would get if they had paid (or been credited) with the number of years required to get a full pension.

The old system IS a two-tier system - basic pension and additional state pension. The new system is a single-tier system.

You need to try to think about this differently. Someone under the old system could have a two-tier pension of almost £400 pw, £176.45 plus £221.10 additional state pension through paying into SERPS/SSP. Why do you think that is? Why are they getting so much more than you are and are you complaining about it?

www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-and-pension-rates-2025-to-2026/benefit-and-pension-rates-2025-to-2026#state-pension

If you only receive £169 compared to the full basic rate of £176.45 then there will be a reason for that shortfall. Either you are short on contribution years, didn’t pay SERPS or were contracted out of SERPS (and so have a private pension) or paid married woman’s stamp for some years.

If someone has an income of only £169 they could claim Pension Credit to bring their income up to £227.10 pw (at current rates). This would be just £3.15 pw less than someone receiving full new State Pension*. However, unlike them they would have been able to claim (last year) Winter Fuel Payment of £200 or £300 depending on age, Warm Home Discount of £150 plus help with dental and eye care and a free TV licence if over 75 - making them better off than the person receiving new State Pension.

* The rate of Pension Credit is deliberately kept just below the full rate of the new State Pension so that those receiving the latter that are prevented from claiming those other benefits

Now that WFP has been reinstated (for people with an income up to £35,000), the person receiving Pension Credit will still get the Warm Home Discount and the other benefits.

For someone reaching SP age after 5 April 2016, but with NIC paid before and after that date, DWP do two calculations to see if they would have been better off under the old or new systems. If some would have been better off under the old system, because they paid into SERPS, they have a protected payment.

Ask yourself this. If everybody reaching SP age after 5 April 2016 was better off under the new system there would be no need to do the two calculations, would there?

Someone whose entire working life is after 5 April 2016 will never be able to build an additional state pension. It is a single-tier pension. It was introduced to save the government money as paying the State Pension becomes more and more unsustainable.

And, as I explained above, older pensioners have much better spousal inheritance rights than younger pensioners. Depending on age, someone on the old system might be able to inherit their late spouse’s basic pension to top up their own to £176.45 a week (at current rates) and 100% of their SERPS. People reaching SP age after 5 April 2016 cannot inherit any of their late spouse’s basic pension and only 50% of their SERPS. Those who were under 55 when they were widowed get far less than that, even nothing.

Thank you for a great explanation. I do sometimes wonder if anyone knows about this. When people who have contracted out want the full new pension id like to know if they want to share their private pension as it's partly funded by them contracting out.

The 25p increase in the State Pension at age 80 would be worth £6.50 per week in today's money.

Thank you theworriedwell.

If anyone really wants to spend a mind-boggling evening they might want to read this by fomer Pensions Minister Steve Webb:

Why is money being deducted from my state pension? The mysteries of CODs, COPEs and Contracting Out explained.

www.lcp.com/media/1150050/why-is-money-being-deducted-from-my-state-pension.pdf

This next I mentioned upthread as it relates directly to the opening post but worth repeating if if people insist on comparing old and new systems.

The Category D pension of £105.70pw is for those who are aged 80 or over. It does not depend on National Insurance Contributions. It was introduced in 1971 to provide non-contributory support for those over 80 who had not qualified for a state pension through National Insurance contributions. These pensions remain but only for those reaching pensionable age before 6 April 2016.

www.gov.uk/over-80-pension/what-youll-get

To reitertate. You usually need ten years NIC to get a pension.

Under the old system, ten years would give you a pension of £45.25 pw but if you are 80 or more you can get a category D pension increasing this to £105.70 pw.

Under the new system, ten years would give you a pension of £65.78 pw but it would not be topped up to £105.70. There will be no corresponding top up when these women reach 80. The oldest is already 72.

Pension credit is the fall back for pensioners of all ages but only those under the old pension system can also get Savings Credit as well as Guaranteed Credit

The 25p age addition on the UK state pension was introduced in 1971 to recognize the needs of people over 80, but it has not been uprated since its introduction, meaning it has lost value due to inflation and is now worth very little. Successive governments have not increased it, instead focusing resources on other forms of support (e.g income support from 1988 (which replaced supplementary benefit), winter fuel payment from 1997, pension credit from 2003), or protecting the overall basic state pension rate e.g index linking by law from 2010 (Pension Act 2007) and the triple lock from 2010.

The 25p will not be paid to pensioners in receipt of the new state pension when they reach 80. It seems paltry to the recipent but at the moment it costs the government £39 million a year. The £10 Christmas bonus costs around £130 million.

silverlining48

I have had a look and the average full pension on the old pre 2016 rate is £176.45 pw.
The average full pension on the new post 2016 rate is £230.45. Pw.
Still an average £50 pw difference.
I am on the old pension and thought I got £169 which if I was on my own would barely cover council tax and energy bills but apparently it’s increased by a few pounds to £176 which frankly won’t make much of a difference.
£176 pw roughly equates to £4 per hour fir a 40 hour week. A quarter of the minimum wage.
We all have to pay the same for food clothes and bills so a two tier pension is just unfair. Both pensions should be equalised, not by taking anything from younger pensioners but upping the lower rate to give parity.
I feel very sorry for those (literally) poor souls who retired just before April 2016 on this appallingly low rate.
Most Western European countries have much higher pensions than we have here. Just asking for fairness.

Sorry but you are wrong. What you have looked up is full amount of the old basic pension and the maximum amount of the new pension. The average figures are the ones I gave above.