§ Mr. Moateasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish figures showing the approximate average levels 160W of retirement pensions in the United Kingdom and their relationship to average earnings in comparison with similar figures where available for other European countries, the United States of America and Japan, distinguishing where possible between those on State pensions only and those on both State and occupational schemes.
§ Sir K. JosephI have been asked to reply.
The approximate average level of retirement pension for a married couple in Great Britain at December 1971 was £9.99; for a single person the figure was £6.08. These figures compare with gross average weekly earnings of £30.93 as at October 1971 for full-time manual wage-earners in manufacturing and some other industries in Great Britain. The latest information available on occupational pensions is contained in the Fourth Survey by the Government Actuary 1971, which gives an average pension of £6.45 for 1970. I regret that published statistics do not provide comparable information for the other countries mentioned, either of average weekly earnings or of average pension rates. Even if this information were available, a meaningful comparison could not be made without taking into account differences in the standards of living, levels of taxation and other social conditions, including differences in the social security systems as a whole.