The state pension and the triple lock, explained
The triple lock raises the state pension each April by the highest of earnings, inflation or 2.5%. Here is how it works and why frozen tax thresholds now shadow it.
The state pension is the foundation of most people’s retirement income, and the triple lock is the rule that decides how fast it grows. Both are widely discussed and often misunderstood, so it is worth setting out plainly how they work and what to check for your own situation.
The new state pension
People reaching state pension age under the current system receive the new state pension, provided they have enough qualifying years of National Insurance. For 2026/27 the full new state pension is £241.30 a week, having risen in April 2026. You need a certain number of qualifying years, generally 35, to get the full amount, and at least 10 to get anything, though individual records vary because of past contracting-out and gaps.
Because your entitlement depends on your own National Insurance record, the single most useful thing you can do is check your State Pension forecast on GOV.UK. It shows what you are on track to receive and whether paying voluntary contributions to fill gaps might be worthwhile.
What the triple lock is
The triple lock is a government commitment to increase the new and basic state pension each April by whichever is highest of three things: the growth in average earnings (measured over a set period the previous year), the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Prices Index in the September before, or 2.5%. Whichever of those three is largest sets the increase.
The effect over time is that the state pension tends to rise at least as fast as prices and often faster than wages, which is precisely why it is both popular with pensioners and expensive for the Treasury. Because a different one of the three measures can win in any given year, the size of the rise is not predictable far in advance; it is decided once the relevant earnings and inflation figures are published in the autumn.
The tax twist worth knowing
Here is a wrinkle that is becoming more important. Income tax thresholds, including the Personal Allowance of £12,570, are frozen, while the state pension keeps rising under the triple lock. As the full state pension climbs closer to the Personal Allowance, a growing number of pensioners whose income is largely or entirely the state pension edge towards paying income tax on it, or find that a small private pension on top tips them over. It is a slow effect, but a real one, and it is a direct consequence of one number moving while the other stands still.
What to do
Check your State Pension forecast on GOV.UK to see your own entitlement and state pension age. If you have gaps in your National Insurance record, look at whether voluntary contributions are worth it, ideally with the help of the free MoneyHelper or Future Pension Centre guidance. And because the annual rise is only confirmed in the autumn, treat any predicted figure for a future year as an estimate until it is officially announced.