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Home Responsibilities Protection

Answer

It is estimated that around 100,000 women who were aged 60 or over in Great Britain at the end of 2008-09, the latest year for which data are available, did not qualify for home responsibilities protection that could improve their own basic state pension entitlement for one or more years solely because they had ceased earning above the lower earnings limit for national insurance contributions and their elections to pay national insurance contributions at the married woman’s and widow's reduced rate had not yet terminated. In total there were 7,360,000 women aged 60 and over at the end of 2008-09 in Great Britain. "Source: Lifetime Labour Market Database 2, 2008/09 and 2008-based national population projections, Office for National Statistics""Notes:""1. The estimate from the Lifetime Labour Market database has been rounded to the nearest 10,000 women and is for Great Britain cases only.""2. The estimate excludes those women who would still fail the first and/or second contribution conditions if the Home Responsibilities protection had been able to count towards their Category A entitlement.""3. Only women over State Pension age are included as we are unable to assess whether the Home Responsibilities Protection would improve basic State Pension entitlement until an individual has completed their working life.""4. Women have not been able to make the reduced rate election since 12 May 1977. However, women who were already paying the reduced rate at this point were allowed to continue their election and pay reduced rates.""5. The election would lapse:""if, since 6 April 1978, there were two consecutive years during which no Class 1 contributions were paid (or treated as paid), and the woman was not self-employed""if the marriage was ended through divorce or annulment""at the end of the tax year in which the woman's widow's bereavement benefit ended""if the woman chose to cancel it.""6. Home Responsibilities Protection (HAP) was available in respect of the tax years 1978/79 to 2009/10 if insufficient National Insurance contributions had been paid or credited to make the year a qualifying year for basic pension purposes, where the person:""was receiving Child Benefit in respect of a child under the age of 16""was caring for a severely disabled person for a minimum of 35 hours per week""was receiving a carers premium to income support""in the case of years 2003/04 to 2009/10, was a foster parent.""6. For people reaching pension age before 6 April 2010 HRP was not a National Insurance credit, it operated by reducing the number of years of National Insurance contributions or credits required for entitlement to a Category A basic pension to a minimum of 20. Women who elected to pay National Insurance contributions at the reduced rate will also have entitlement to a Category B basic pension based on their husbands contributions. In the generality of cases HAP will only have created a financial advantage if it resulted in their Category A entitlement exceeding their Category B entitlement or if the woman reached pension age before her husband and therefore did not qualify for a Category B pension until he reached pension age.""7. For people reaching pension age from 6 April 2010 onwards years of HAP were converted into years of National Insurance credits and from April 2010 it was replaced by weekly National Insurance credits for people who are:""receiving Child Benefit for a child under the age of 12""foster parents""caring for one or more severely disabled adults or children for a minimum of 35 hours per week."

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

9504; 728 c106-7WA

Session

2010-12

Subjects

Women National insurance contributions Married people State retirement pensions Home responsibilities protection

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk