§ 67. Mr. Leaveyasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance what proportion of insured men, using current actuarial calculations, die before reaching the retirement age of 65 years; what is the average annual net saving to the National Insurance Fund, in cash and expressed as a percentage of the total net annual income of the fund; and what are the corresponding figures for women.
§ Mrs. ThatcherIt is assumed that about 19 per cent. of the men now in the contribution field, and 6 per cent. of the women, will die before they reach pensionable age. To assess the total effect on the income and expenditure of the National Insurance scheme if none of them did so would involve making a series of highly artificial assumptions. In any case the contributions are fixed at the level needed to finance benefits, taking account of the ages at which people do die.