National Insurance contributions up to state pension age

You pay National Insurance contributions throughout your working life. They currently build up your entitlement to the State Pension and to certain social security benefits. You stop paying them when you reach State Pension age. From 6 April 2010 the State Pension age has started to gradually increase from 60 to 65 for all women born after 5 April 1950. The DirectGov web site has a calculator to help calculate such actual State Pension ages and this is particularly helpful if you are running a payroll that includes employees in this age range, as the NI contribution no longer simply stops at 60 for Women.