Only half (50%) of those claiming the new state pension, which was introduced in April 2016, receive the full amount, according to Government data analysed by later life mortgage broker Responsible Life.
This compared with 74% of people who are claiming the old basic state pension, who received at least the full rate.
Responsible Life submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The DWP provided the latest available data from November 2022, when the full amount was £185.15 a week.
The current weekly pension for 2023-24 is now £203.85.
Of the estimated 3,057,000 people receiving the new pension in November 2022, 649,000 women, and 881,000 men received less than £185.15.
Of the 9,576,000 people receiving the basic provision in November 2022, 26% received less than the full amount of £141.85.
Steve Wilkie, executive chairman at Responsible Life, said: “These figures from the DWP show a much higher percentage of people who have claimed their state pensions since April 2016 are not receiving the full amount, compared to those pre-2016, under the old state pension system.
“The state pension makes an important contribution to most peoples’ finances in retirement, and knowing how much they’ll receive is crucial when planning for the future.”
He added: “The state pension changes made by the Government, creating a ‘single tier’ pension, were designed to make things simpler, but that doesn’t appear to be the case on this evidence.
“These figures suggest there is a knowledge and information gap around the state pension, and people overestimate how much they think they’re going to receive because they don’t understand how the contributory benefit is calculated.
“To avoid people retiring and facing the shock of a smaller state pension that they were expecting, more needs to be done to raise awareness of the importance of checking what you’re likely to receive before you reach retirement age, and taking the necessary steps if the figure is less than anticipated.”
