Grandparents who help with childcare for under-12s can apply for free credits that can boost their state pension by around £359 a year.

There is no minimum hours requirement, so long as a parent of the child confirms care was provided and doesn’t need the credit to fill a gap in their own National Insurance record. 

Some 160,000 successful claims for annual credits – formally known as specified adult childcare credits – were made between 2016 and 2025 by grandparents or other family members, according to data obtained from HMRC by financial services firm Quilter.

The boost is available only for looking after children whose parents are working, and so don’t need the credits from claiming child benefit to go towards their own state pensions.

The headline full state pension is currently £241.30 a week or nearly £12,550 a year. 

One grandparent credit will boost state pension entitlement by 1/35th. That works out at £6.90 a week, or around £359 a year. 

You can put in a retrospective claim for grandparent credits for years stretching back to 2011.

This is especially useful if you are short of the minimum ten years needed to claim any state pension, or under the 35 years required to get the full rate.

• Apply at: gov.uk/guidance/apply -for-specified-adult-childcare-credits