§ 58. Mr. Eadieasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what estimate he has made of the number of additional pensioners in Scotland, England and Wales on the basis that the retirement age is reduced to 60 years of age for men; and what this would cost, respectively for 1969 at the present level of pension provision.
§ Mr. SwinglerThe numbers of men between the ages of 60 and 65 according to estimates by the Registrars-General are 1,206,000 in England 130,000 in Scotland and 77,000 in Wales Assuming the14W pattern of retirement among men aged 60 to 65 followed the present pattern of retirement among men aged 65 to 70, the cost of reducing to 60 years of age the minimum pension age for men could be up to £450 million a year. To divide this figure between the three countries would entail further assumptions and this might be misleading.