§ Mr. Skeetasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on the assumption that about 20 per cent. of the finance for the State pension derives from tax and the balance from contributions, what increases in weekly contributions would be needed to finance a pension of £10 per week for a single person and £16 per week for a married couple.
§ Mr. DeanI have been asked to reply.
The cost of increasing retirement pensions to this level would be £1,200 million a year without allowing for accompanying changes in other benefits. If this 245W were met by higher graduated contributions on earnings from £9 to £48 a week, with the Exchequer providing, as at present, 18 per cent, of the amount so contributed, the contributions of employers and employees would each have to be increased by about 2½ per cent, of earnings, on top of the present figure of 4¾ per cent. For employees earning over £48 a week, both employer and employee would have to pay nearly £1 extra.