Thousands of married women may not be receiving full state pension

According to Mike O’Brien, Pensions Minister, up to 73,000 women may be entitled to £1,400 in backdated payments.

Mr O’Brien has admitted that thousands of married women may not be getting their full state pension.

Furthermore, a considerable amount of women are getting too little pension because the time spent looking after their children has not been taken into account.

Mike O’Brien said we have identified around 73,000 married women who could potentially claim some backdated pension to cover the period between turning 60 and her husband reaching 65.

We don’t know how many could be entitled to this backdated sum but they could get up to £1,400 each, added Mr O’Brien.

The women affected will have reached 60 between 6 April 1998 and 24 October 2004 and be married to a man who is less than five years older than them.

Malcolm McLean, chief executive of the Pensions Advisory Service, is in favour of the announcement and said we know from calls we took on our women and pensions helpline that many women have no knowledge how the system works - it is so complex.

Steve Webb, Liberal Democrat MP, who has campaigned for this group, also welcomed the change.

The process will involve reviewing the national insurance records of thousands of women over state pension age.

Any married woman under the age of 70 who does not receive a full state pension should contact the DWP to see if she can pay extra contributions to boost her pension.

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