A stark warning has been sounded for thousands of women who became mothers in the 1980s or 1990s.

The tax chief has highlighted that those who had children during the eighties or nineties may be losing out on precious state pension payments.

Numerous people have slipped through the cracks in HMRC's monitoring. "Home Responsibilities Protection" (HRP) was meant to be automatically awarded to anyone who took a career break to look after their family and claimed child benefit between April 6, 1978, and April 5, 2010.

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However, due to errors in correctly updating HRP on NI records, several people, particularly women, might be getting less state pension than what they deserve. It’s still possible to claim HRP for each full tax year from 1978 to 2010.

But certain conditions need to be met: you should have claimed child benefit for a child under 16, or you looked after a child while your partner claimed child benefit, or you got income support when caring for an ill or disabled individual.

Eligibility also extends to those who cared for someone with an illness or disability receiving specific benefits like attendance allowance, disability living allowance, and constant attendance allowance.

The amount of State Pension you could receive when you reach age is determined by your National Insurance record and the number of 'qualifying years' you have, reports .

If you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2010, Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) could have reduced the number of qualifying years you needed to get the full basic State Pension by up to 22 years.

To secure a full basic State Pension, women needed 39 qualifying years and men required 44 qualifying years.

If you reached State Pension age on or after 6 April 2010, HRP was converted into National Insurance credits, if you needed them, up to a maximum of 22 qualifying years.

If you reached State Pension age between 6 April 2010 and 5 April 2016, you needed 30 qualifying years on your National Insurance record to get the full basic state pension.

If you reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016, you may have been entitled to Additional State Pension if you qualified for HRP because you received Child Benefit for a child under the age of 6 or were caring for a sick or disabled person (including a child over the age of 6) who was receiving certain benefits.

If you reached State Pension age after 6 April 2016, you may be eligible for the new State Pension.