State pension contribution question

[streatly]

I was a SAHM until just after my son turned 12, 15months ago. I started working then and work on average 21hrs a week and earn around £12k a year. My DH earns to much for us to keep the child benefit payments so we return the money and I get the pension stamps. Or so I thought, did this change once my son turned 12? And if I no longer get the stamps via child benefit will I get them because I'm working or am I not earning enough? I admit I don't fully understand how it works.

Presumably you pay National Insurance contributions ? It will show on your payslip.

www.gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record

This will show your NI contributions per year
It will tell you if you have contributed in full or in part per year

www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

You only get the NIC credit from child benefit until 12 years of age so yes that would have stopped.

If you earn exactly £12k gross pa you should not be paying Class 1 NIC as your earnings are not above the primary threshold of £12,570 a year. However, on the basis that you earn above the lower earnings limit of £6,396 you should still get the NIC credit.

Use the link already provided to check you are getting credit for these as expected.

If your total income is below £12,570 you also shouldn't be paying any tax.

Op, I’ve been in the same boat.

I was a SAHM. I signed up for child benefit, to get the NI contribution/ state pension stamp, but opted out of the money, as I’d have to pay it back, as DH earns too much. The month my youngest DC turned 12, was when this stopped.

As it happened, I was working 1 day a week until then, and I started paying NI myself the following month when I upped my days to 3 a week. I thought there was a 1 month gap between this and I could have paid up 1 month to make it a full year. Turns out I don’t need to as I did extra shifts that month.

if you earn £120-180 a week, your NI is paid for you, or you don’t pay it, and you get your NI/ pension contribution paid for. Over this, you pay NI.

I have a note in my diary to call up the pensions dept. or whatever relevant place is, to make sure my last year is all up to date.

Well done on doing this. Many of my friends haven’t and won’t qualify for a state pension They are all adamant that they get a state pension anyway because they have British nationality and think you don’t have to contribute to it. Madness.