§ Mr. StreeterTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, what is the latest information held about pensioners' incomes; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ArbuthnotThe latest information is in the tables. This revises information given to the hon. Member for Aylesbury (Mr. Lidington) on 19 July at columns201–4 and on 17 October at columns 59–60.
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b) Single Pensioner Average income Growth Average income from each source as £ per week July 1992 prices percentage percentage percentage of total income Income Source 1974 1979 1992 1974–1979 1979–1992 1974 1979 1992 Total gross income 81.30 83.90 126.40 3 51 100 100 100 Deductions 10.80 10.30 17.00 _5 65 13 12 13 Total net income1 70.50 73.60 109.40 4 49 87 88 87 Total net income AHC2 59.10 60.70 93.00 3 53 N/A N/A N/A 1 Median net income, at 1992 prices, was £60.70 in 1974, £66.80 in 1979 and £86.30 in 1992. 2 Median net income after housing costs, at 1992 prices was £48.70 in 1974, £52.10 in 1979 and £62.80 in 1992.
c) All pensioner Units Average income Growth Average income from each source as £ per week July 1992 prices percentage percentage percentage of total income Income Source 1974 1979 1992 1974–1979 1979–1992 1974 1979 1992 Earnings 16.40 12.90 9.90 -22 -23 15 12 6 Benefit income 60.80 68.20 84.40 12 24 57 61 50 Investment income 14.20 12.10 32.80 -15 171 13 11 20 Occupational income 15.10 17.90 40.00 19 123 14 16 24 Other income 0.60 0.70 1.00 13 48 1 1 1 Total gross income 107.10 111.80 168.10 4 50 100 100 100 Deductions 14.70 14.90 22.40 1 50 14 13 13 Total net income1 92.40 96.90 145.60 5 50 86 87 87 Total net income AHC2 79.00 81.90 129.50 4 58 N/A N/A N/A 1 Median net income, at 1992 prices, was £65.60 in 1974, £68.40 in 1979 and £93.50 in 1992. 2 Median net income after housing costs, at 1992 prices was £50.00 in 1974, £53.00 in 1979 and £76.40 in 1992. Notes to table 1:
(1) Components may not sum to totals owing to rounding.
(2) '*' denotes a figure of less than 0.5 per cent.
(3) All average amounts are means unless otherwise stated.
(4) All figures are before housing costs unless otherwise stated.
(5) Pensioner units are defined as single people over state pension age and couples in which the husband is over state pension age.
(6) '1990–1' denotes estimates from the combined sample for 1990 and 1991. One quarter of the 1991 Family Expenditure Survey sample has been omitted because of problems in the collection of information on community charge payments following the delayed issue of bills in April 1991. As a result the sample size in that year is too small to provide reliable estimates of pensioner's incomes. For this reason the remaining data for 1991 has been combined with that for 1990.
(7) 'N/A' means Not Applicable.
Table 2: Proportion of pensioner units with investment income and the average amount for those in receipt percentage of units with investment income Average amount for those in receipt(£per week,1992 prices) Percentage growth in average amount since 1979 1974 1979 1992 1974 1979 1992 1992 a) All pensioner units Pensioner couples 58 71 84 31.70 24.50 54.30 122 Single pensioners 49 57 71 24.40 16.40 35.60 117 All pensioner units 52 62 76 27.20 19.70 43.30 120 b) Recently retired pensioner units Pensioner couples 60 73 83 32.10 26.00 59.80 130 Single pensioners 54 60 67 20.40 15.20 51.20 236 All pensioner units 58 68 77 28.30 22.00 56.80 158 Notes:
(1) Recently retired pensioner units are defined as: single women aged 60–64; single men aged 65–69; and couples in which the husband is aged 65–69.
(2) All average amounts are means.
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Table 3: Proportion of pensioner units with investment income and the average amount for those in receipt percentage of units with Occupational Pension Average amount for those in receipt(£per week,1992 prices) Percentage growth in average amount since 1979 1974 1979 1992 1974 1979 1992 1992 a) All pensioner units Pensioner couples 53 65 72 51.30 52.80 92.00 74 Single pensioners 24 32 53 37.20 35.00 59.90 51 All pensioner units 34 43 60 44.80 44.40 71.70 61
Table 3: Proportion of pensioner units with occupational pension and the average amount for those in receipt Percentage of units with occupational pension Average amount for those in receipt (£ per week, 1992 prices) Percentage growth in average amount since 1979 1974 1979 1992 1974 1979 1992 1992 b) Recently retired pensioner units Pensioner couples 63 68 73 56.20 62.10 99.90 61 Single pensioners 24 37 53 46.40 37.70 71.70 90 All pensioner units 43 55 65 54.30 55.30 91.60 66 Notes:
(1) Estimates of the percentage of pensioner units of occupational pension income are based upon data from the family expenditure survey and the GAD survey of occupational pension schemes. Due to thin use of additional information, it is not possible to derive the overall average occupational receipt from the estimates in this table.
(2) Recently retired pensioner units are defined as: single women aged 60–64; single men aged 65–69; and couples in which the husband is aged 65–69.
(3) All average amounts are means.