§ Mr. Stephen Rossasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the estimated percentage of the population of the United Kingdom who will have reached retirement age at 1st January 1980; and what increase this will show over the 10-year period from 1st January 1970.
§ Mr. Moyle,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 6th June 1978; Vol. 951, c. 99], gave the following corrected information:
The estimated number of persons who will be of pensionable age in the United Kingdom in mid-1980 is 9,779 thousand and this represents 17.5 per cent. of the total population. This estimate also represents an increase of 9.7 per cent. over the number in mid-1970 when there were 8,912 thousand persons of pensionable age (16.1 per cent. of the total population).