§ 58. Mr. Lipsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many old age pensioners there are; and for how many is the old age pension the only source of income?
§ The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Sir Kingsley Wood)The number of old age pensioners in Great Britain at the end of 1942 is estimated at about 3,780,000, including women over 60 pensioned as widows under the Contributory Pensions Acts. As regards the second part of the Question, it is estimated, on the basis of an inquiry undertaken in 1940, that approximately 900,000 out of a total of rather under 1,400,000 pensioners who are in receipt of supplementary pensions, had some source of income other than their old age and supplementary pensions. No information is available as to the remaining 2,400,000 pensioners, but the fact that they have either not applied for or been found not to need supplementary pensions, makes it probable that the majority of them have some income other than their pensions.