HC Deb 22 November 1954 vol 533 cc82-3W
80. Mr. Peter Freeman

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance the amount of pension granted to widows from the 1914–18 war, based on the husband's pre-war income; what increases have since been made; the in crease in the cost of living since 1914; and whether he is satisfied that such widows are adequately provided for.

Brigadier Smyth

Rates of alternative pensions for widows varied with their husband's pre-war earnings. The system of awarding such pensions was abandoned in the 1920s, since when all pension awards have been on a flat-rate basis. Of the 93,000 widows of the 1914 war only 14,600 are receiving alternative pensions, the rest having been awarded the flat rate or transferred to it whenever it was more advantageous to them. I do not think there is any case for increasing still further pensions to widows who have all along been drawing higher pensions than the rest.

On the basis of the cost of living index and the Interim Index of Retail Prices, the increase in the cost of living since 1914 is 192 per cent.