§ 39. Mr. Keenanasked the Minister of National Insurance what would be the additional cost to the Government per year, if the old age pensions were increased from the present rates to £2 per week for each pensioner.
§ Mr. J. GriffithsThe net additional cost yearly of increasing retirement pension to £2 per week (or £4 per week for a married couple) at the present ages, namely 65–60, would be about £160 million at the start and would rise to £260 million in 20 years' time. There would also be a net increase of £7 million at the start in the cost of noncontributory old age pensions. For contributory pension this would mean an increase in the weekly Class 1 contributions of about 2s. 1d. for a man and 2s. 3d. for a woman divided equally between employers and employed with corresponding increases for Classes 2 and 3. The additional cost to the Exchequer (including supplementary contributions) would be over £60 million at the start rising to £160 million in 20 years' time.
§ Mr. Prescottasked the Minister of National Insurance how many old age pensioners, at the last convenient date, had had their pensions reduced after being subjected to a means test in consequence of their weekly earnings exceeding £1; and of such number, how many were men and women, respectively.
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§ Mr. J. GriffithsThe earnings rule only applies where the pension is conditional on retirement. I do not think it can properly be described as a means test. Between October, 1946, and the end of October, 1948, 375,000 reports of earnings in excess of 20s. a week were made by old age pensioners or retirement pensioners whose pensions were subject to the earnings rule. Of these, 220,000 related to casual earnings and 155,000 to earnings of a more or less regular character. No record is available of the numbers of individual men or women concerned but the average number of persons reporting such earnings weekly was about 3,500.