Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department has taken to improve public understanding of the link between national insurance credits and child benefit; and what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the pension income of stay-at-home parents who do not claim child benefit of the high-income child benefit tax charge.

The government has always encouraged families to claim Child Benefit to receive the associated National Insurance credits and help protect their future right to the State Pension.

Parents are advised to do this on the Child Benefit claim form (which is included in Bounty Packs that go to new parents), through the HMRC helpline, and online at GOV.UK.

From April 2019 the Child Benefit claim form and accompanying notes will further emphasise the non-monetary benefits a Child Benefit award provides: in particular, the associated National Insurance credits which protect their State Pension.

In addition, HMRC is developing social media content and material that can be distributed to external partners, to further promote the importance of claiming.

Most parents are able to qualify for the new State Pension, even if there are gaps of up to 15 years in their National Insurance records. This means that those parents who have not claimed Child Benefit still have the opportunity to achieve the full State Pension.