New research shows that millions of people are already, or will be, heading into retirement with the state pension as their main source of income.
There have been significant rises in the value of the state pension over the last few years, but you might still struggle if this is your only source of income.
Here, Which? explains what you’ll get from the state pension and how much you’ll need to top it up for a comfortable retirement.
How reliant are people on the state pension?
Recent research from investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown indicates that some 27% of people said they were or would be totally or heavily reliant on the state pension in retirement.
This equates to around 12.5 million adults in the UK relying on the payment from the government to be able to make ends meet.
A further 35% said they would be quite reliant on it, while some 21% said that they wouldn’t rely on it. Around one in six (16%) weren’t sure about the role the state pension would play.
The survey was carried out in October 2025 among 1,300 people aged 18-60 and around 240 people aged 60+.
- Find out more: state pension to rise by £575 in 2026
How much the state pension pays
The good news for those dependent on the state pension is that it has risen markedly in recent years on the back of the ‘triple lock guarantee’.
The triple lock is the mechanism for calculating state pension increases, with payments rising each year by one of three measures: the rate of inflation (as of the previous September), average earnings growth (as of the previous July), or 2.5%, whichever is highest.
Recipients of the full level of the new state pension will get £241.30 a week or £12,547.60 a year in 2026-27. The basic state pension will pay £184.90 a week or £9,614.80 a year.
You might get more or less than these figures. The exact amount you get will depend on your National Insurance (NI) record and whether you were ‘contracted out’ of the additional state pension before 2016.
If you built up additional state pension prior to April 2016, your state pension will reflect this and might even receive more than the headline amounts. A period contracted out or having fewer than 35 NI qualifying years could mean that your payment is lower.
The table shows how the state pension has increased over the last six years and which element of the triple lock has been applied.
- Find out more: how much is the state pension?
How much will you need overall?
Even with generous increases in the state pension, those totally or heavily reliant on it will only partially cover the retirement living standards published by Pensions UK.
The three retirement living standards are designed to give people a better idea of how much they’ll need in retirement for a ‘minimum’, ‘moderate’ or ‘comfortable’ lifestyle.
The latest figures show a single-person household requiring £13,400 (minimum), £31,700 (moderate) and £43,900 (comfortable) a year, while couples have goals of £21,600, £43,900 and £60,600 a year respectively.
Pensions UK’s targets for a person living alone might seem high compared with those for couples, but this reflects the fact that many costs – such as energy bills, broadband and home insurance – are virtually the same even if you live alone.
Although the state pension at its full level of £12,548 a year will go most – if not all – of the way towards the minimum living standard for both singles and couples, you’ll need to rely on private pension savings to achieve the income needed for a more moderate or comfortable living standard, where your budget can stretch to more holidays and leisure activities.
- Find out more: how much will I need to retire?
How to build up a private pension
Actively building up a private pension fund to supplement what you might get from the state pension has become more important with fewer people now having access to final salary pensions.
The situation has been helped by the fact that you are now auto-enrolled into workplace pension schemes. This should allow you to put together a decent level of retirement income over and above the state pension.
Taking the time to understand how much you’re on track to get from private pensions is important in understanding what your total income will be. It’s more tricky today with people having several different pensions spread across a number of employers.
Our pensions calculator can help you to work out what your final pot size might look like.
Tracing lost pensions is now an important exercise as you switch jobs and could lose track of smaller plans.
You can contact the government’s Pension Tracing Service with the name of your employer or the pension provider to help you track down the details.
It might not always be feasible, but increasing pension contributions when you get a pay rise, or perhaps a bonus, can help ensure that you are less reliant on the state pension.
- Find out more: tracing old pensions