§ Mr. Hooleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what calculations have been made of (a) the additional cost of pensions, and (b) the loss of insurance contributions, if the retirement age for men for the purpose of State pensions was reduced to 62 years.
§ Mr. OrmeOn the basis that the pattern of retirement in the five years following a pensionable age of 62 for men was the same as it is now in the five years following age 65, the additional annual cost of retirement pensions, in 1978–79 terms, would be about £1,000 million. The loss of national insurance contributions would be about £250 million, and there would in addition be a loss of about £50 million by way of Exchequer supplement.