State pensioners born before 1951 are receiving up to £2,797 less annually in State Pension payments. Men born before April 6, 1951 and women born before April 6, 1953, are entitled to the basic State Pension.

But the old, Basic rate is currently valued at £176.45 per week compared to the new State Pension, which is paid at a rate of £230.25 per week if you receive the full amount – £53.80 more per week or £216 a month.

According to research published by House of Commons Library, there were an estimated 12.95 million state pensioners in Great Britain in 2024/25. Around two thirds (8.57 million pensioners) were claiming the pre – 2016 State Pension, while 4.38 million were new State Pension claimants.

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The new State Pension was introduced in April 2016. New State Pension claimants are forecast to equal pre-2016 State Pension claimants by 2028/29.

The basic State Pension (BSP) – a contributory flat-rate benefit to which people built entitlement on the basis of their National insurance (NI) record.

The additional State Pension – this depended on the earnings or deemed earnings during their working life since 1978. People built up entitlement through the State Earnings Related Pension Scheme (SERPS) between 1978 and 2002, and the State Second Pension (S2P) from 2002 onwards.

It was possible to contract out into a private pension scheme that met set requirements, in return for which the employee (and their employer) paid a lower rate of NI.

The basic State Pension (BSP) was awarded to individuals who had claimed it, had reached State Pension age, and met the qualifying conditions.2 Entitlement was based on the number of qualifying years an individual had built up.

A ‘qualifying year’ for the purposes of the basic State Pension is one in which a person has paid, been treated as having paid, or been credited with enough National Insurance contributions on their earnings for it to count as a qualifying year.

For people reaching State Pension age before 6 April 2010, the number of qualifying years needed for a full basic State Pension was 44 for men and 39 for women.

There were several ways people could increase their entitlement – such as paying voluntary NICs, deferring (delaying making a claim, to receive a higher rate at a later date), or claiming on the basis of the contribution record of a spouse or civil partner.