§ Mr. McQuarrieasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will seek to amend present legislation in order that widows will be paid the full widow's pension, regardless of age, on the death of the husband.
§ Mr. PrenticeNo. I do not consider there are good grounds for paying a national insurance widow's pension to young widows under 40 without children, who normally have the same opportunities of supporting themselves as single women of the same age. Widows who are over 50 when their husbands die or their children grow up receive the full pension; widows who are then between 40 and 50, receive a percentage of the full pension, according to their age. These arrangements take account of the difficulties which older widows may encounter in re-establishing themselves in employment, and I consider that the general provisions for widows of varying 651W ages are satisfactory bearing in mind that the national insurance scheme necessarily deals with broad categories of beneficaries.