§ Mr. A. Lewisasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he is aware that, in the main, retirement pensioners spend their money on food, rent and rates, and fuel and light, and that since October, 1951, when retirement pensions were £2 10s. 0d. for a couple, food has risen by 10s. 6d. in the £ sterling, rent and rates by 18s. 1d. in the £ sterling, and fuel and light by 18s. 1d. in the £ sterling; whether he is satisfied that the present scale of £5 9s. 0d. for a retired couple is adequate to compensate for these increases on the basis of the pension being spent on food, rent and rates, and fuel and light; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mrs. ThatcherI am aware that food prices have gone up by about 50 per cent. and both rent and rates and fuel and light have gone up by about 90 per cent. The retirement pension for a married couple has meanwhile increased by about 120 per cent., so that in real terms it is now worth a good deal more than it was in 1951.
§ Mr. A. Lewisasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he will give details of information in his possession showing the average amount in the £ sterling which was spent by retirement pensioners on food, rents and rates, and fuel and light, in October, 1951 and October, 1963, respectively.
§ Mrs. ThatcherFigures are not available for the precise dates quoted, but on the basis of the expenditure pattern in pensioner households shown in the Report of the Household Expenditure Survey, 1953, and the Family Expenditure Survey, 1962–63, I can give the following figures:
1953–54 1962–63 s. d. s. d. Rent and rates (i.e. Housing costs) 3 1 3 5 Fuel and light 2 3 2 10 Food 8 1 7 5 Other Expenditure 6 7 6 4 Total £1 0 0 £1 0 0