Pensioners are in line for a payment increase from April after new rates were confirmed by the Department for Work and Pensions.
The State Pension is subject to an annual rise each year under the triple lock promise. The payment is made every four weeks to people who have reached the qualifying age and have paid enough National Insurance contributions.
The DWP has confirmed that the new full State Pension will rise by £472 a year from April 2025. The triple lock was introduced by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government in 2010. It was designed to ensure the value of the State Pension was not overtaken by the increase in the cost of living or the incomes of working people.
Last year, Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed that State Pension payments will be boosted by wage growth. However, how much your State Pension payments rise depends on which one you get as there are two types, determined by your date of birth, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Men born on or after April 6, 1951, or women born on or after April 6, 1953, can claim the new State Pension. Currently valued at £221.20 per week, or £11,502 annually, this will rise to £230.30 weekly, or £11,975 annually, from April.
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People born before these dates can claim the older basic State Pension, currently worth £169.50 per week, or £8,814 annually, set to increase to £176.45 weekly, or £9,175 annually, from April. Your exact State Pension amount depends on your National Insurance record.
Rachel Vahey, head of public policy at AJ Bell, said: "The State Pension will be at a level perilously close to the frozen personal allowance and should overtake it in a couple of years if things continue, thanks to frozen tax thresholds. At that point something must surely give.
"But slowing the increase in State Pension growth or unfreezing the personal allowance both seem unlikely. It could be that this fast-approaching crunch time means the Government will finally be forced to address the question of how much the State Pension should really offer, at what age, and how it can increase payments sustainably each year."
The full rate of new State Pension is currently £221.20 a week. Your amount could be different depending on:
- if you were contracted out before 2016
- the number of National Insurance qualifying years you have
- if you paid into the Additional State Pension before 2016
Here are more details about the new State Pension. The Government website includes information about eligibility and your National Insurance record.
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