HC Deb 19 November 1990 vol 181 c7
8. Mr. Neubert

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much the average pensioner's income from bank and building society deposits has changed since 1979.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Social Security (Mrs. Gillian Shephard)

My hon. Friend will be pleased to hear that the income which pensioners receive from savings more than doubled between 1979 and 1987

Mr. Neubert

Can my hon. Friend say whether there has been a similar encouraging increase in income from occupational pensions in that period? How does this compare with the previous period—1974–79—when we were enjoying a Labour Government?

Mrs. Shephard

My hon. Friend will be equally pleased to hear that average incomes from occupational pensions in the same period grew by 77 per cent. His question about the way in which savings and incomes from occupational pensions behaved during the last Labour Government is the most significant, because such income fell by 16 per cent. during that period

Mr. Flynn

Will the Minister balance the selective figures that she has been given by confirming that under the last Labour Government the percentage of pensions rose from 17.5 to 20.5 per cent. of male average earnings, while in the following years under the Conservative Administration they plummeted from 20.5 to a mere 16 per cent. of average male earnings?

Mrs. Shephard

What matters to pensioners is the way their average total net income rises. While expressing valedictions and regrets to the hon. Gentleman, I must say that under this Government, from 1979 to 1987 pensioners' average total net income rose by more than 31 per cent. in real terms. That is what the hon. Gentleman should remember.