Guidance updated with rates effective from 8 April 2024

The Department for Work and Pensions updated its published guidance for the new State Pension, Pension Credit and New Style Employment and Support Allowance with benefit rates effective from 8 April 2024¹. The State Pension page records the change as "Updated with the latest benefit rates, effective from 8 April 2024"¹. The Pension Credit technical guidance carries the same wording, dated 18 April 2024². The New Style ESA detailed guide records the update on 8 April 2024³.

The same pages show the pattern of annual uprating in previous and later years. The State Pension guidance lists updates effective from 10 April 2023, 11 April 2022, 12 April 2021, 6 April 2020, 8 April 2019 and 9 April 2018¹. Pension Credit guidance lists rates effective from 11 April 2023 and 11 April 2022². New Style ESA guidance lists rates effective from 10 April 2023, 11 April 2022, 12 April 2021 and 6 April 2020³. The dates differ from year to year because uprating takes effect at the start of the benefit week that includes the first Monday in April.

The New Style ESA guidance sets out the amounts payable at the time of the 2024 update. In the assessment phase, the first 13 weeks of a claim, the basic allowance is up to £75.65 a week for claimants aged 18 to 24 and up to £95.55 a week for those aged 25 and over. In the main phase, the basic allowance is up to £95.55 a week, with a support component of £50.35 a week for those placed in the support group³. New Style ESA is paid fortnightly, and where a claimant also receives Universal Credit the ESA paid reduces the Universal Credit payment by the same amount³. Occupational or personal pension income above £85 a week reduces New Style ESA by half the amount over that limit³.

Child Benefit rates are given separately by StepChange as £1,331 a year for a first child and nearly £882 for any other child, described as rates as of April 2024⁴. The same pages state that claims can be made fully online and that the money should arrive within three days⁴. The Sure Start Maternity Grant is described as a lump sum of £500 towards the costs of having a baby, for people on a low income or getting certain benefits, and can be applied for from 11 weeks before the baby is due until the baby is three months old⁶.

Why it matters for households

Benefit rates change once a year, and the 8 April 2024 date is when the new amounts took effect for the benefits covered by these pages¹. Anyone whose award was calculated on the previous year's figures had their payment recalculated from that date. For New Style ESA, the amounts quoted above are the weekly rates that applied from the 2024 uprating, including the £85 a week pension income limit above which payments are reduced³. Child Benefit, paid at £1,331 a year for a first child and nearly £882 for any other child as of April 2024, is not means tested and can be claimed by parents or guardians with a child under 16, or under 20 if the child stays in approved education or training⁴.

The State Pension guidance covers people who reach State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016, when the new State Pension began¹. Pension Credit technical guidance is written for professional and voluntary advisers as well as members of the public wanting more detail, and GOV.UK directs claimants to a separate Pension Credit guide².

What happens next

The pages show later uprating dates. The State Pension guidance was updated with rates effective from 6 April 2026, and before that with figures for 2025-26 on 7 April 2025¹. Pension Credit guidance was updated with rates effective from April 2026 on 6 April 2026, and its rates and guidance were updated for 2025 to 2026 on 7 April 2025². New Style ESA figures were updated with 2026/27 values on 6 April 2026, and with 2025 to 2026 figures on 7 April 2025³. The Pension Credit page also records that references to Income Support and Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance were removed in the April 2026 update².