HC Deb 22 July 1963 vol 681 cc124-5W
Mr. Mitchison

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance how many men and women, respectively, at the latest convenient date were of pensionable age and not in receipt of retirement pensions; what were the reasons disentitling them to such pensions; and what estimate he will give of the numbers affected by each reason.

Mr. N. Macpherson

It is estimated that the number of persons over the minimum pension ages in December, 1962, who were not then entitled to receive a retirement pension amounted to some 1¾ million, of whom about 1⅓ million were women.

This number included nearly 400,000 persons who were deferring retirement and some 700,000 wives of insured persons all of whom would subsequently qualify for retirement pensions.

Of the remainder, some failed to satisfy the contribution conditions. The others were outside the contributory pensions scheme when the National Insurance scheme began, and were either

  1. (1) already over minimum pension age, or
  2. (2) late-age entrants who chose to take a refund of pension contributions when they reached that age.
It is not possible to estimate the numbers of persons who were, or whose husbands were, in each category.

Mr. Lawson

asked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what is the present value of the single adult retirement pension expressed in terms of 1946 prices.

Mrs. Thatcher

Thirty-six shillings.