State Pensions Measures
Category A and B retirement pensions: single contribution condition
Current position
18.Two contribution conditions are required to be satisfied for entitlement to the following benefits:
Category A and B basic state pension;
Widowed mother’s allowance;
Widowed parent’s allowance;
Bereavement allowance; and
Widow’s pension.
19.In the case of a Category A pension, the contribution conditions apply to the claimant. For the other benefits listed the conditions apply with respect to the claimant’s spouse or civil partner (or deceased spouse or civil partner).
20.The first contribution condition is that the relevant insured person must, in any tax year since 6 April 1975, have actually paid Class 1 contributions on earnings of at least 50 times the weekly lower earnings limit for the tax year in question in respect of tax years 1975/76 – 77/78 or 52 times the weekly lower earnings limit for the tax year in question in respect of tax years from 1978/79 onwards. Equivalent number of Class 2 or Class 3 contributions will also suffice. Alternatively a claimant must have paid 50 flat-rate contributions at any time before 6 April 1975.
21.The second contribution condition is that that person must have achieved a minimum number of “qualifying years” during his working life to be entitled to the full rate of benefit. The minimum number of qualifying years required for a full rate Category A or B basic state pension is currently 44 years for a man and 39 years for a woman. A “qualifying year” is one in which a person’s earnings factor for the year is not less than the qualifying earnings factor for that year.
Changes
22.For people reaching state pension age (a term interchangeable with ‘pensionable age’) from 6 April 2010, the existing contribution conditions for Category A and B pensions will be replaced with a single contribution condition. The same new condition will apply to the spouse or civil partner of a claimant of a Category B pension where the spouse or civil partner reaches state pension age on or after 6 April 2010 (or dies on or after that date without having reached that age).
23.For people reaching state pension age before 6 April 2010, and for those claiming bereavement benefits (whether before or after 6 April 2010), existing contribution conditions will continue to apply.
24.For those reaching state pension age from 6 April 2010, the number of years needed to qualify for a full Category A or B pension is to be reduced from 44 years for a man and 39 years for a woman to 30 qualifying years for men and women alike. A person who has less than 30 qualifying years will be entitled to a proportion of the full basic state pension for each qualifying year they have built up.
