Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of (a) the take-up, as a proportion of eligibility, of the Specified Adult Childcare Credit, and (b) the estimated expenditure for the Specified Adult Childcare Credit, in each of the last four years.

Qualifying Years of National Insurance for State Pension can be filled whilst working or being self-employed; by being credited with National Insurance credits; and through making voluntary National Insurance contributions.

Specified Adult Childcare Credits are one of the many ways an individual can build a Qualifying Year of National Insurance to protect their future entitlement to State Pension. It is a transfer of the National Insurance credit from the primary parent/carer receiving Child Benefit to a Specified Adult providing care. Its award depends on the circumstances between an individual parent and a carer, and it is not possible to estimate potential volumes

There is no immediate expenditure associated with the award of the credit. Each credit adds a qualifying year which is used when the individual reaches State Pension age to determine their overall State Pension entitlement.