this means that a man now reaching 65 years of age can earn a flat-rate pension of &amp;pound;3 18 s 6 d a week - or up to &amp;pound;6 4 s a week if he is married - if he works until he is 70 and an insured woman can earn a similar pension if she works until she is 65 . the above are the increases for contributions paid after 2nd August , 1959 . for every 25 contributions paid for weeks up to 2nd August 1959 , increases are at the rate of 1 s 6 d ( 1 s for the wife ) . on widowhood any 1 s increases earned for the wife after 16th July , 1951 , are paid at the 1 s 6 d rate . on top of these increases of flat-rate pension you may also get extra graduated pension if you do not retire at age 65 ( 60 for a woman ) . this can arise in two ways . firstly , if you are 65 ( 60 for a woman ) you work for an employer and are paid more than &amp;pound;9 in any week you will ( unless you are contracted out ) pay graduated contributions . these will count in the ordinary way for graduated pension . secondly , the graduated part of the pension which you would have drawn had you retired at age 65 ( 60 for a woman ) will be treated as if it were a graduated contribution paid by you and your employer . this means that half of it will count as an extra contribution by you towards further units of graduated pension . examples showing how the increases work for people now approaching pension age with various earnings are shown on page 31 . 47 . the earnings rule . because the pension is for people who have retired , it is reduced if the pensioner earns more than a certain amount while he is under 70 ( 65 for a woman ) . the rule is that the pension is reduced by 6 d for every complete shilling of net earnings between &amp;pound;3 10 s and &amp;pound;4 10 s a week , and by 1 s for every complete shilling over &amp;pound;4 10 s . a wife &apos;s pension is similarly reduced if she earns over &amp;pound;3 10 s a week . a pensioner under 70 ( 65 for a woman ) who earns &amp;pound;3 11 s or more in a week must declare the amount earned to the local pensions and national insurance office without delay . 48 . how and when to claim retirement pension . shortly before you reach pension age , whether or not you intend to retire , you should apply for your right to a pension to be decided . the local pensions and national insurance office usually sends an application form to each insured person . but if you have not got one three months before you reach age 65 ( 60 for a woman ) you should enquire at your local office . before you can be awarded a pension you must give notice in writing of the date of your retirement . you can do this up to 4 months in advance . if a man and wife both wish to claim a pension , each must give notice even if the wife is doing no work besides her own domestic duties . if your claim , or your notice of retirement , is late , you may lose benefit . 49 . cancelling retirement . if you have once retired and decide to return to work you can , instead of having your pension reduced for earnings , cancel your retirement and qualify for a bigger pension , as described in paragraph 46 , when you finally retire or reach the age of 70 ( 65 for a woman ) . to do this you and your wife will both have to give up your pension for the time being and you will have to pay full national insurance contributions while you are working . widow &apos;s benefits . for the first 13 weeks of widowhood there is a benefit called widow &apos;s allowance . after that , payment of widow &apos;s benefit depends on individual circumstances such as family responsibilities and age . 50 . widow &apos;s allowance . the standard rate of the allowance is 80 s a week for the first 13 weeks of widowhood , with increases of 25 s a week for the eldest dependent child and 17 s a week for each other dependent child . the allowance can be paid to a woman widowed over 60 years of age only if her husband was not receiving a retirement pension . the general position of widows over 60 is explained in paragraph 57 . 51 . widowed mother &apos;s allowance . a widow left with a dependent child ( see paragraph 22 ) will usually get a widowed mother &apos;s allowance when she has finished drawing her widow &apos;s allowance . the standard weekly rate of widowed mother &apos;s allowance is 82 s 6 d for the widow and her eldest child , with increases of 17 s a week for each other dependent child . the allowance will last as long as the widow has a dependent child in her family . the allowance is provided to help the widowed mother who , because of her children , can not readily support herself by working . if she does work her allowance is , therefore , reduced by 6 d for every complete shilling of net earnings between &amp;pound;5 and &amp;pound;6 a week and by 1 s for every complete shilling over &amp;pound;6 , but it can not be reduced by more than the widow &apos;s personal part of the allowance - usually 57 s 6 d a week - however much she earns . a widowed mother earning &amp;pound;5 1 s or more in any week must declare her earnings to the local pensions and national insurance office without delay . 52 . widowed mother &apos;s personal allowance . a widow whose son or daughter has left school and does not qualify as a dependent child ( see paragraph 22 ) but is still under the age of 18 and living with her , can get a widowed mother &apos;s personal allowance , usually 57 s 6 d a week , when her widow &apos;s allowance or widowed mother &apos;s allowance ends . this allowance is subject to the same earnings rule as the full widowed mother &apos;s allowance . 53 . widow &apos;s pension . the standard weekly rate of widow &apos;s pension is 57 s 6 d and a widow may get it in either of the following ways : ( a ) when widow &apos;s allowance ends , if she was over 50 years of age when her husband died and had been married for 3 years or more ; ( b ) when widowed mother &apos;s allowance ends , if she is then over 50 years of age ( 40 if her husband died before 4th February , 1957 ) and 3 years have passed since the date of her marriage . the pension is provided to help the older widow who can not readily support herself by taking up full-time employment . if she is able to work , her widow &apos;s pension is , therefore , reduced by 6 d for every complete shilling of net earnings between &amp;pound;3 10 s and &amp;pound;4 10 s a week and by 1 s for every complete shilling over &amp;pound;4 10 s . a widow earning &amp;pound;3 11 s or more in any week is required to notify the local pensions and national insurance office without delay . there are special rules which enable a widow who does not qualify for the widow &apos;s pension or qualifies only for the 10 s pension ( see paragraph 55 ) to get unemployment or sickness benefit if she is unable to find work or is unable to work because of illness when the widow &apos;s allowance or widowed mother &apos;s allowance ends . 54 . what are the contribution conditions ? only the husband &apos;s contributions count for widow &apos;s benefit ; the contribution conditions can not be fulfilled on the widow &apos;s own insurance record . there are two contribution conditions : first - the husband must normally have paid at least 156 contributions of any class since he last became insured . second - for benefit to be paid at the standard rate the husband must have paid or have been credited with a yearly average of 50 contributions . if this average is below 50 , but not less than 13 , benefit is paid at a reduced rate . 55 . widow &apos;s 10 s pension . certain widows have had preserved for them rights equivalent to those which they might have expected under the acts in force before July 1948 - the 10 s pension . the widows in question are those whose marriage was before 5th July , 1948 , and whose husbands were insured under the old scheme immediately before that date . 57 . how and when to claim widow &apos;s benefit . a person registering a death can get a special death certificate from the Registrar of deaths . on the back of the certificate the widow can let her local pensions and national insurance office know that she wishes to claim benefit . a form on which to claim will then be sent to her . the form can also be obtained from any local pensions and national insurance office . if a claim is delayed more than three months after the husband &apos;s death the widow may lose some benefit . widow &apos;s benefit stops if the widow remarries . 57 . widows over 60 . retirement pension is usually paid instead of widow &apos;s pension to widows who are over 60 when widowed . other widows qualify for a retirement pension on their own insurance when they retire at or after reaching age 60 ; there are special rules to make it easier for them to qualify . but a widow entitled to widow &apos;s allowance , because her husband was not receiving a retirement pension , or to a widowed mother &apos;s allowance when over 60 will be paid that allowance if , as is usually the case , it is more favourable to her than the flat-rate retirement pension . the widow of a man who has paid graduated contributions will get a graduated addition to her flat-rate retirement pension equal to one-half the graduated part of the pension which her husband had earned or was drawing when he died . this will be on top of any graduated pension which she herself has earned ( see paragraph 45 ) . if she becomes a widow when under 60 , she will receive any graduated pension to which she is entitled when she qualifies for her retirement pension . a widow may also be entitled to an increase of retirement pension because of deferred retirement ( see paragraph 46 ) . child &apos;s special allowance . 58 . what is a child &apos;s special allowance ? this allowance is available to a woman whose marriage has been dissolved or annulled , and is paid on the death of her former husband if she has a child to whose support he was contributing at least 5 s a week in cash or its equivalent . the allowance can not be paid if the woman has remarried . the amount of the allowance depends on the amount the former husband was paying towards the child &apos;s support at his death subject to a maximum of 25 s for the first child and 17 s for each other child in addition to family allowances . the contribution conditions are the same as for widow &apos;s benefit ( see paragraph 54 ) , except that the allowance is not reduced where the former husband &apos;s yearly average of paid or credited contributions is below 50 although the allowance can not be paid if the average is below 13 . the allowance should be claimed within three months of the former husband &apos;s death , otherwise some benefit may be lost . a claim form can be obtained through any local pensions and national insurance office . guardian &apos;s allowance . 59 . for orphan children . a guardian &apos;s allowance is a payment of 32 s 6 d a week to the person who takes into his family an orphan child both of whose parents are dead . special rules apply to the children of divorced parents , to adopted children , to illegitimate children and to children one of whose parents is missing at the time the other dies . one of the orphan &apos;s parents must have been insured , but there is no requirement that any particular number of contributions should have been paid . the allowance should be claimed not later than 3 months after the child joins the family ; otherwise the guardian may lose some benefit . a claim form can be obtained from the local pensions and national insurance office . a child for whom a guardian &apos;s allowance is being paid can not count for the purpose of family allowances . death grant . 60 . what is a death grant ? a death grant is a sum paid on the death of an insured person or of the wife , husband or child of an insured person . 