Paying voluntary NI while receiving child benefit

Hi, I currently receive child benefit and my youngest child is 7 so I believe I have another 5 years of having my NI contributions automatically credited for the year. I have been self employed since October '21 and I am currently completing a self assessment. I am under the threshold for tax and I'm wondering if it is worth my paying voluntary contributions too, or will they not really count toward anything given they are automatically applied? I have 26 years of full and 5 years of gaps in my history (pre children). However, only 1 of those gaps is giving an amount to pay in order to fill it. The others say they're being reviewed, but they've been saying this for several years and I've not been able to get a definitive answer on whether I need to pay, nor how much. Can someone please advise. Many thanks.

Hi,

The child benefit award gives you national insurance class 3 credits. Class 3 credits only count towards the state pension as a qualifying tax year.
As you are self-employed you may have the option to pay class 2 credits. Class 2 credits count towards claims for benefits on top of counting towards the state pension.
If you need to claim benefits for any work-related issues in your self-employment the class 2 payments of national insurance count to being able to receive sick pay for an example.

You will need to contact the HMRC National Insurance helpline to enquire about the tax years that are showing as under review. We need to discuss these tax years with you if you are looking to pay national insurance for them first.

National Insurance: general enquiries

Once you are aware of the status of these tax years, I would also advise contacting the Department for Work and Pensions to enquire on how many tax years you need to contribute fully for a full state pension.
This can be done on your personal tax account where you advised us on the tax year status. However, to pay voluntary contributions for some tax years it may not benefit your state pension in older years, the Department for Work and Pension can calculate your pension to its maximum.

Contact the Future Pension Centre

Thank you.