§ Mr. George Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what were the amounts paid out of the National 81W Insurance Fund in respect of each benefit in each of the last five years in cash as a percentage of the total.
Year ended 31st March 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 Benefit £m. %* £m. %* £m. %* £m. %* £m. %* Unemployment … 127 5.4 150 5.9 239 8.1 209 6.3 174 4.5 Sickness … … 383 16.3 374 14.8 323 10.9 291 8.7 306 7.9 Invalidity† … … — — — — 91 3.1 196 5.9 242 6.3 Maternity … … 38 1.6 40 1.6 42 1.4 42 1.3 42 1.1 Widows … … 162 6.9 168 6.7 196 6.6 220 6.6 245 6.4 Retirement … … 1,627 69.3 1,778 70.5 2,045 69.3 2,369 70.9 2,752 71.4 Other benefits‡ … 13 0.5 12 0.5 14 0.6 14 0.3 14 0.4 Pensioner's lump sum payments … … — — — — — — — — 77 2.0 * Percentage of total expenditure on benefits. † Invalidity benefit replaced sickness benefit after 168 days incapacity. ‡ Death grant, guardian's allowance and child's special allowance.