§ 14. Mrs. Virginia BottomleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what proportion of pensioners receive income from savings.
§ Mr. MooreThe proportion of pensioners with income from savings has risen from 62 per cent. in 1979 to over 70 per cent. in 1985. Over that period incomes from that source went up by over 52 per cent. in real terms, compared with a decrease of 16 per cent. under the previous Administration. By 1985 the proportion of recently retired pensioners with some form of income other than state benefits had risen to over 85 per cent.
§ Mrs. BottomleyWill my right hon. Friend confirm that that is all part of a picture of growing prosperity and choice for pensioners and that, as a whole, pensioners' incomes have risen twice as fast as those of the population generally since this Government came to power?
§ Mr. MooreMy hon. Friend is entirely right. In fact, pensioners' incomes have increased in percentage terms faster than those of people in work and are now worth 60 per cent. of the incomes of the working population, which is higher than in 1979.