Any man born after April 6, 1951 and any woman born after April 6, 1953 is automatically eligible for the new state pension if they have accrued at least ten ‘qualifying years’ of national insurance contributions.
The exception to this rule is if you are married or in a civil partnership, in which you can qualify for state pension based on your partner’s national insurance record.
Saving into a workplace pension or another type of private pension does not affect how much State Pension most people receive from the Government.
The Department of Work and Pensions only takes into account your NI contributions and does not make an assessment of how much you need from other income sources unless you have low income.