§ Mr. David Steelasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she proposes to increase widows' pensions.
§ Mr. Robert C. BrownWidows' benefits are among those to be uprated under414W the National Insurance Bill 1974. Widow's allowance, payable for the first 26 weeks of widowhood, will be increased from £10.85 to £14, widowed mother's allowance will go up from £7.75 to £10 and there will be an increase of £1.10 in the rate payable for each dependent child. Widow's pensions will go up from £7.75 to £10. The age-related pensions for younger widows will range from £3, for a woman widowed at age 40 or whose widowed mother's allowance ceases at that age, up to the full rate of £10 for a woman widowed at 50 or over. Widow's basic pension will go up from its present level of £2.33 to £3.