§ Mr. David StewartTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many working age people are in work; how many employees there are; how many people are self-employed; how many are covered by a state second pension; how many have a private pension; and how many have no private pension in 2002–03. [104564]
§ Mr. McCartneyThe working age population is 34.2 million. There are 25.5 million people in work, of which 22.6 million are employees and 2.9 million are self-employed.
Of the total working age population of 34.2 million, approximately 25.6 million people are accruing rights to the state second pension or a contracted-out equivalent. This includes people receiving credits due to caring responsibilities or disability.
There are 14.7 million people of working age currently making contributions to a private pension, and 19.5 million people of working age not making contributions to a private pension.
These estimates are based on the Family Resources Survey 2001–02.
§ Mr. WillettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people who are accruing entitlement to the basic state pension, including effective accrual through home responsibilities protection, are not accruing entitlement to the state second pension or a funded pension through contracting-out arrangements. [104576]
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§ Mr. McCartneyWe estimate that approximately 5 million people of working age are accruing rights to the basic state pension but not accruing rights to the state second pension or a contracted-out equivalent.
All sources of credits for both the basic state pension and state second pension have been included to determine which people are accruing future pension rights.
Source:
The figure of 5 million was calculated using information on individual characteristics from the Family Resources Survey 2001–02.