Is it true that you get pension credits for childcare?

Yes, that's actually true. When caring for a child up to age one and a half, one of the parents receives pension credits - this is called a non-insured period. Each year of such care counts toward work history and adds credits to your pension account. True, you get fewer credits for this than for official employment, but it's still helpful.

This mainly applies to the parent who takes parental leave to care for the child and receives the corresponding benefit. Usually that's the mother, but it can be the father or even a grandmother - the main thing is that someone officially took this leave. If both parents work and neither takes parental leave, then no credits are awarded to anyone.

In practice, this affects the size of your future pension - the more credits you accumulate, the higher your pension will be. Plus, the credited years help you build up the required work history for pension eligibility. For those who raised several children, this can be a significant plus, especially if the periods caring for them added up to several years.