Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their most recent estimate of the number of women who are in part-time low-paid employment with more than one employer who fail to receive National Insurance credits as a result of each employment falling below the Lower Earnings Threshold.

DWP analysis suggests that at any one time around 50,000 people, 40,000 of whom are women, have multiple jobs with earnings in each job below the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) (£113 per week in 2017/18), although their combined earnings exceed that limit. The LEL is the threshold for treating contributions as having been paid for the purpose of determining contributory benefit entitlement.

This analysis also estimates that of the women in this group, around 30 per cent are getting a childcare credit for their State Pension. Others in this group may be receiving credits through another route or be paying voluntary national insurance contributions.