§ 4. Mr. Gwilym Robertsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the actuarial expectation of life for men at 65 and women at 60; and what estimates he has made of the amount paid by a man and woman, respectively, in contributions since the National Insurance Scheme started in 1948 who reach retiring age this year, and, at the present levels of pension, of the amount the man and woman receive, respectively, in total pensions having reached their actuarial expectations of life.
§ Mr. EnnalsThe average life expectancy of a man reaching age 65 is about 12 years and the average life expectancy of a woman reaching age 60 is about 19½ years. The maximum contributions for pension that could have been paid by a man and his employer is about £685 and the maximum that could have been paid by a woman and her employer is about £655. Such a man now retiring at age 65 and his wife age 60 could expect to receive about £7,000 by way of retirement pension and the single woman now retiring at age 60 could expect to receive about £5,100. A similar calculation for the single man shows that he could expect to receive about £3,200.
§ Mr. RobertsDoes my hon. Friend agree that only the latter calculation has any validity here, and what it proves is 11 simply that, at least in this respect, the woman is about 1.6 times the man? Is it not time that something was done to try to achieve equality in this matter?
§ Mr. EnnalsI do not accept my hon. Friend's calculation. Many steps are being taken towards securing equality, and, in any case, as I said, the situation as regards a man also covers provision for his wife in widowhood.