The State Pension for 2022/23 is to increase by 3.1% in line with the current rate of inflation. This could amount to a rise of £288.60 over the course of the year.
What is the State Pension?
The amount of State Pension you are entitled to depends on a number of factors, including your date of birth and your record of National Insurance contributions.
The age at which you can start claiming the State Pension is currently 66 for both men and women. There are two types of State Pension: basic and new. The basic State Pension is applicable to those who reached the State Pension age before 6 April 2016, whereas the new State Pension is available to those who reached State Pension age after this date.
However, you need to have made a minimum of 10 years' worth of National Insurance contributions to receive any State Pension payments at all. In order to be eligible for the full basic State Pension, you need 30 years’ worth of contributions, while the new State Pension requires 35 years' worth of contributions.
The full basic State Pension for the 2021/22 tax year is £137.60 per week, and the full new State Pension is £179.60, however, the government adjusts the State Pension each year to reflect the cost of living using a special formula known as 'triple lock', meaning the full amount that eligible pensioners can receive changes every tax year. We discuss the upcoming changes to the State Pension below.
What is happening with the State Pension?
Last month, the government announced that it would temporarily scrap the triple lock promise that would have seen State Pensions increase by a record £822. Ordinarily, the State Pension is calculated based on the highest of either inflation, wage growth or 2.5%, but an irregular spike in average wages early in the year would have caused pensions to rise by over 8%. This would have amounted to a cumulative £5.4bn increase in the State Pension bill. The decision to scrap the wage growth component of the triple lock was made to prevent pensioners from “unfairly benefiting from a statistical anomaly”, according to the Work and Pensions Secretary.
Instead, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has confirmed that the State Pension for 2022/23 will rise in accordance with the current inflation rate of 3.1%. This means that those entitled to the full new State Pension will receive £185.15 per week from 6 April 2022, up from £179.60, amounting to a £288.60 increase over the course of the upcoming tax year. Pensioners on the older basic State Pension will also see an increase from £137.60 to £141.85 per week, equating to a £221 pay rise.
State Pension 2022/23 explained
Below is a table which explains how both the new and basic State Pensions are set to change in the 2022/23 tax year. All figures are rounded to the nearest 5p.
| New State Pension (per week) | New State Pension (per year) | Basic State Pension (per week) | Basic State Pension (per year) | |
| 6 April 2021- 5 April 2022 | £179.60 | £9,339.20 | £137.60 | £7,155.20 |
| 6 April 2022 - 5 April 2023 | £185.15 | £9,627.80 | £141.85 | £7,376.20 |
| Change | +£5.55 | +£288.60 | +£4.25 | +£221 |
How to check your State Pension
If you are unsure when you can start receiving the State Pension, the GOV.UK website has a helpful State Pension age calculator which uses your date of birth to determine when you can get your first payment.
Alternatively, if you want to find out how much State Pension you could receive and if there are any ways you can increase what you are entitled to, head to the GOV.UK’s state pension forecast.
