§ Sir J. POWERasked the Minister of Health whether he can furnish an estimate of the extent to which the increase in the population of persons in receipt of public assistance in the last 25 years arises from the greater longevity of the population?
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§ Sir K. WOODAs was indicated in the reply given to my hon. Friend's question on 23rd May last, the number of persons who are over 65 years of age and are in receipt of relief is considerably smaller now than it was in 1906, owing to the introduction of old age pensions. The greater longevity of the population has, no doubt, had the effect of preventing a larger reduction, but I regret that I have no means of estimating that effect statistically.