§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list, for each of the member states of the European Union, the level of state retirement pensions at the most recent available dates in terms of(a) each country's currency, (b) ecus, (c) percentage of each country's average earnings and (d) in annual terms as a percentage of each country's gross domestic product per capita; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HagueComparable figures on the level of state retirement pensions are not available in terms of national currency or ecus, or as a percentage of average earnings, for all European Union countries. This is because most have wholly earnings-related pension schemes, unlike the United Kingdom. In addition, information is not available on each member state's average level of earnings.
Information on pensions in the EU can be found in "MISSOC Social Protection", a copy of which is in the Library. In the United Kingdom information is published about levels of earnings from data collected in the New Earnings Survey; few countries have comparable surveys.
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Child Benefit Method of payment Period Number of new claims Automated credit transfer Four-weekly order-book Weekly order book Quarter ending wc 30 March 1993 106,424 36,991 34,882 34,551 Quarter ending wc 30 June 1993 98,371 34,449 32,070 31,852 Quarter ending wc 28 September 1993 105,943 37,190 33,996 34,757 Quarter ending wc 30 December 1993 99,755 36,588 31,520 31,647 Quarter ending wc 29 March 1994 107,718 40,946 32,884 33,888 Information for (d) is not available in the form requested. The following Eurostat publications contain information on expenditure on the elderly in EU countries and copies are held in the Library:
Digest of Statistics on Social Protection in Europe, Volume 1: Old Age.Social Protection Expenditure and Receipts 1980–1991.