§ Mr. Hugh Jenkinsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what inquiries he has carried out to establish why the chances of the poor dying earlier than the rich have increased by 43 per cent.
§ Mr. AlisonI presume the hon. Member is referring to the figure of 143 given in the recently published Registrar General's Occupational Mortality Supplement as the Standardised Mortality Rate for males in Social Class V. This is the ratio of mortality of men in this social class to that of all men in the country after adjustment for age differences in the population at risk; it does not represent 75W any increase over a period of years but the position at a particular time (1959–1963).