What is the state pension triple lock?

In April the new state pension will rise by 4.1% to £230.25 per week, thanks to the triple lock, but what is the triple lock?

It’s a pledge which states that the new state pension, which applies to those who reached pensionable age after 2016, must rise by the highest of the following three factors - average earnings growth between May and July the previous year, the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rate of inflation from the previous September, or by 2.5%.

This commitment has been in place since 2011 and it protects the new state pension, making sure it pays enough for pensioners to live off when they stop working. But why was it set up, how has it changed, and will it remain in place in the future?

Here we look at everything you need to know about how the triple lock works.

How much is the new state pension?

The full rate for the new flat-rate state pension is currently £221.20 per week, and in April 2025 it will rise by 4.1% to £230.25. This follows on from a bumper rise in April 2024 of 8.5%.

The basic rate of state pension is currently £169.50 per week, and it will rise to £176.45 in April.

The full, new flat-rate is usually only available to pensioners who have paid 35 years of National Insurance (NI) payments or contributions.

You can check your state pension forecast and your NI record on the government website (Check your State Pension forecast), to find out how much you can expect to receive when you retire. You can also make extra NI contributions here.

How is the triple lock calculated?

The triple lock is a carefully balanced equation the government follows when increasing the state pension each year. It means that the state pension must rise by the highest of the following three factors:

• The average wage growth measured between May and July of the previous year, which was 4.1% in 2024


• The CPI rate of inflation recorded the previous September, which was 1.7% last year


• 2.5%

As the wage growth figure was highest out of these three in 2024, it is being used to increase the state pension in the new financial year, starting on April 6.

When was the triple lock set up?

The triple lock has been in place since the 2011/2012 financial year, under the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government with David Cameron as prime minister.

The following table shows how the state pension has increased, in line with the triple lock, over the last ten years.
 

Source:  What is the state pension triple lock - and why is it due to rise £470? | This is Money)

The triple lock has been used every year since 2011 to calculate how much the state pension will rise by, apart from in 2022/2023. In this financial year, the average wage growth element was taken out following the Covid pandemic where many people were furloughed.

There were concerns at the time that the figures were skewed because of the fact many companies had placed employees on furlough and then brought them back into work on full pay.

This resulted in a rise of 8.8% between April and June 2021, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). However, this angered many groups as pensioners this year received a 3.1% rise (rather than the 8.8% rise if the wage element had been used).
 

What is the future of the triple lock?

The Labour government has committed to keeping the triple lock in place for the whole of this parliament.

Research from the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS), for example, shows the triple lock has increased the state pension by around £11 billion a year since 2010. While estimates from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) suggest the state pension cost around £125 billion in the 2023/4 tax year.

Critics also say it’s unfair that pensioners receive this guaranteed raise to the state pension while younger people who are still in work face economic pressures with the cost of living. Yet supporters argue that pensioners are also faced with financial struggles and they are not in a position to earn more money once they stop working.

There are also concerns that if the state pension continues to rise, it may exceed the £12,570 personal tax allowance that most people receive. As tax thresholds are currently frozen until April 2028, if the state pension did rise above this amount, it could mean pensioners become liable for tax on anything they receive over this amount. (Source: Income Tax Personal Allowance and the basic rate limit, and certain National Insurance contributions thresholds from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2028 - GOV.UK)

What’s the alternative to the triple lock?

At the moment the triple lock is set to stay, but alternatives have been proposed. The Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) suggested the following three options:

• A ‘double lock’ which would see the state pension increase in line with the highest of either CPI or earnings growth


• An earnings-linked option 1, which would increase the state pension in line with earnings growth


• An earnings-linked option 2, which would increase the state pension by an average of CPI and earnings growth

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