TL;DR: Specified Adult Childcare Credits are National Insurance credits that a UK grandparent or other family member can claim for looking after a child under 12 (or under 17 if the child has a disability), where the child's parent or main carer is in paid work and pays NI on their earnings. The credit transfers an NI year from the parent (who does not need it because they are already getting one through employment) to the carer (who does need it for State Pension purposes). Each NI year transferred adds approximately 6.32 pounds a week to the eventual State Pension under the new system, worth thousands of pounds over a typical retirement. The claim is made on Form CA9176 to HMRC, can be backdated to the 2011-12 tax year when the scheme started, and is significantly under-claimed: HMRC's own data suggests only a small fraction of eligible grandparents apply.
Last reviewed May 2026
Specified Adult Childcare Credits (sometimes called "grandparents' credits" or "specified adult NI credits") are a National Insurance benefit introduced from 6 April 2011 to recognise the unpaid childcare contribution of grandparents and other family members. The credit lets the parent who is in paid work transfer the NI credit they receive automatically for being the registered Child Benefit recipient to the family member providing the childcare.
This guide covers exactly who qualifies for the credits, how the transfer works between parent and carer, the financial value of the credits over a typical retirement, the claim process and the deadlines for backdated claims, the interaction with other family-based NI credits, and the common reasons claims are refused or delayed.
How Specified Adult Childcare Credits work
National Insurance credits in the UK are awarded automatically to a parent registered for Child Benefit for a child under 12. These credits count towards the parent's State Pension qualifying years. For a parent who is also in paid work and paying NI on their earnings, the Child Benefit credits are duplicative: they are already getting an NI year from their employment.
The Specified Adult Childcare Credit lets the parent transfer that "spare" Child Benefit credit to a family member who provides childcare during the tax year. The family member receives an NI qualifying year for State Pension purposes, even though they have not paid NI on earnings (because they were not in paid employment, or because their earnings were below the NI threshold).
The arrangement does not cost the parent anything: the parent retains the NI year through their employment, and the spare credit goes to the carer. For a grandparent or other carer who has gaps in their NI record (due to caring responsibilities, time out of work, or part-time work below the NI threshold), the credit fills a gap and increases the eventual State Pension.
Who qualifies as the carer
The credit is available to grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts and uncles (including great-aunts and great-uncles), siblings and step-siblings of the child's parent, and the spouse or civil partner of any of these. The list of qualifying family relationships is set out in regulations and is reasonably broad; the GOV.UK guidance lists the categories.
The carer must be aged 16 or over and below State Pension age in the tax year for which the credit is being claimed. Carers above State Pension age cannot use the credit because additional NI years above State Pension age do not increase the State Pension.
The carer does not need to provide a minimum number of hours of childcare. The regulations do not specify a threshold, although the carer is signing a declaration that they did provide care during the year, which should be substantive enough to justify the claim. In practice, regular childcare (one or two days a week or its equivalent) is well above the bar.
Who qualifies as the parent making the transfer
The parent (or main carer) who transfers the credit must be the person receiving Child Benefit for the child during the tax year. The parent must be in paid work and paying NI on their earnings, which is what makes the Child Benefit NI credit unnecessary for them. If the Child Benefit recipient is not in paid work, they need the credit themselves and cannot transfer it.
The child must be under 12 throughout the tax year (or under 17 if the child has a disability). The credit covers complete tax years, so a child turning 12 during a tax year reduces the available claim to the part-year up to the 12th birthday.
Where Child Benefit is claimed in respect of more than one child by the same parent, the credit transferred is a single NI year regardless of the number of children. The transfer is per parent, not per child. Where the children have different parents (in a blended family), each parent's transferable credit is separate.
The financial value of the credits
The new State Pension (for people reaching State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016) is built up over a maximum of 35 qualifying years of NI contributions or credits. Each qualifying year is worth roughly 1/35th of the full new State Pension. For 2026-27, with the full new State Pension at around 230.25 pounds a week, each year is worth approximately 6.58 pounds a week, or 342 pounds a year.
Over a 20-year retirement, an additional qualifying year is therefore worth approximately 6,840 pounds in increased State Pension (in 2026 terms, before triple-lock increases that would push the actual cash value higher). For a carer with several gap years in their NI record, claiming Specified Adult Childcare Credits for multiple years can be worth tens of thousands of pounds in eventual State Pension.
The pre-2016 basic State Pension system worked similarly but the per-year value depends on the specific transitional arrangements. Carers reaching State Pension age before 6 April 2016 may have a different calculation; the State Pension forecast on GOV.UK shows the position for any individual.
The claim process and the backdate to 2011
Claims are made on Form CA9176 (Application for Specified Adult Childcare credits), available from GOV.UK. The form is signed by both the carer claiming the credit and the parent agreeing to the transfer. The completed form is sent to HMRC's National Insurance Contributions and Employer Office.
Claims can be backdated to the 2011-12 tax year (when the scheme started). HMRC will accept retrospective claims for any year from 2011-12 onwards, as long as both parties sign the form. This is significant: many grandparents who provided childcare from 2011 onwards but have only recently heard of the scheme can claim multiple years' worth of credits in one application.
Claims must be made after the end of the tax year being claimed for. A claim for the 2025-26 tax year, for example, can be made from 6 April 2026 onwards. HMRC's processing typically takes several months, with the credit added to the carer's NI record once approved. The carer can then check the updated record through their Personal Tax Account.
Interaction with other family-based NI credits
Other family-based NI credits exist alongside Specified Adult Childcare Credits. The Carer's Credit applies to people providing 20 or more hours of care to a person receiving certain disability benefits. The Foster Carer's Credit applies to approved foster carers. The Universal Credit credits apply to people claiming Universal Credit.
A carer can only get one type of credit for any given tax year. Where a carer might qualify for multiple types, they should claim the one that is easier to evidence. Specified Adult Childcare is among the easier to claim because it does not require evidence of specific hours; only the declaration that childcare was provided during the tax year.
The credits transferred under the scheme are Class 3 credits for State Pension purposes. They do not count for contributory Jobseeker's Allowance, contributory Employment and Support Allowance or certain other contribution-based benefits, but those are not the main purpose of the scheme.
Common reasons claims are refused or delayed
Refusals usually fall into one of a few categories. The first is that the parent is not the Child Benefit recipient: the credit can only be transferred from the registered Child Benefit recipient. If both parents are in paid work and the Child Benefit registration is with the higher earner, the higher earner is the only party who can transfer. Some families do not realise this and complete the form incorrectly.
The second is the parent not paying NI on their earnings: the parent must have an NI year through employment to be giving up the Child Benefit credit. A parent on maternity leave for most of the year, or below the NI threshold, may not have a spare credit to transfer.
The third is the carer being above State Pension age. Credits cannot be added to an NI record after State Pension age. Carers who continued to provide childcare past their own State Pension age cannot claim the credit for those years.
The High Income Child Benefit Charge and the registration question
The High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) applies a tax charge to families where one earner's adjusted net income exceeds 60,000 pounds (with the charge tapering to claw back the full Child Benefit by 80,000 pounds, from the April 2024 changes). Some higher-income families have opted out of Child Benefit payments to avoid the charge, but the GOV.UK guidance recommends still registering for Child Benefit (with no payment) so the parent retains the NI credit.
For Specified Adult Childcare Credit purposes, the parent must be the registered Child Benefit recipient, even if no payment is taken. Families who never registered for Child Benefit cannot transfer the credit to a grandparent. Families who registered but stopped payments retain the ability to transfer.
This is a common oversight in higher-income families. Registering for Child Benefit without taking payment costs nothing and preserves the NI credit, which can then be transferred to a grandparent if both qualify. The form to register (without taking payment) is on the GOV.UK website.
How we verified this
This article reflects the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 (as amended) for the NI credit framework, the Pensions Act 2014 for the new State Pension structure, HMRC's published guidance on Specified Adult Childcare Credits, the National Insurance Contributions Regulations for the credit transfer mechanism, and the GOV.UK guidance on the High Income Child Benefit Charge and its impact on Child Benefit registration. Specific values of the State Pension and the per-year value of an additional qualifying year update annually with the triple-lock uprating.
Disclaimer: This article is general information about Specified Adult Childcare Credits and is not personal financial or tax advice. The benefit of claiming depends on the carer's specific NI record and the gaps in it. A free State Pension forecast on the GOV.UK site shows the carer's current position; a benefits adviser at Citizens Advice or Age UK can help evaluate the claim's expected benefit.
Frequently asked questions
What are Specified Adult Childcare Credits?
Specified Adult Childcare Credits are National Insurance credits that a UK family member can claim for providing childcare to a child under 12 (or under 17 if disabled), where the child's parent is in paid work and pays NI on their earnings. The credit transfers an NI year from the parent (who already has one through employment) to the carer, adding a qualifying year to the carer's State Pension record.
How much is a Specified Adult Childcare Credit worth?
Each NI qualifying year added to the carer's record is worth approximately 1/35th of the full new State Pension. For 2026-27, that is roughly 6.58 pounds a week or 342 pounds a year of additional State Pension. Over a 20-year retirement, that is approximately 6,840 pounds per year claimed (in current pounds, before triple-lock increases).
Can I backdate my Specified Adult Childcare Credit claim?
Yes. Claims can be backdated to the 2011-12 tax year, when the scheme started. A carer who provided childcare from 2011 onwards but only recently heard of the scheme can claim multiple years' worth of credits in a single application. The form (CA9176) is sent to HMRC after the end of the tax year being claimed.
Who is eligible to receive Specified Adult Childcare Credits?
The carer must be a grandparent, great-grandparent, aunt, uncle, sibling, step-sibling, or the spouse or civil partner of any of these, in relation to the child's parent. The carer must be aged 16 or over and below State Pension age in the tax year being claimed. The credits cannot be added to the NI record after State Pension age.
Does Specified Adult Childcare Credit affect the parent's State Pension?
No. The parent must be in paid work and paying NI on their earnings, so they already have an NI qualifying year through employment. The Child Benefit NI credit (which would otherwise be a duplicate) is transferred to the carer instead. The parent does not lose anything by agreeing to the transfer.
