§ 8. Mr. G. Thomasasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what percentage of the national average wage was represented by the basic retirement pension in 1946, 1951, 1959, and at the latest convenient date.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterTaking October of those years, the standard rate of retirement pension for a single man was 21.5, 18.1 and 18.5 per cent. respectively of the average earnings of men in the manufacturing and principal non-manufacturing industries as shown by the Ministry of Labour's half-yearly inquiry. In relation to average women's earnings the percentages were 39.8, 33.3 and 35.6 respectively. The figures for October, 1959, are the latest available.