§ Mr. Stoddartasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many additional men would be enabled to retire in 1978 if the age at which State retirement pension became payable were reduced from 65 years to 64 years from 1st January 1978.
§ Mr. OrmeAbout 280,000 additional men would reach pension age in 1978 if it were reduced to 64. It is, however, likely that only a minority of those men in employment would choose to retire in 1978.
§ Mr. Stoddartasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the net cost of reducing to 64 years the age at which men qualify for State retirement pension assuming that their jobs are filled from people at present on the unemployment register.
§ Mr. OrmeThis would depend on the extent to which men took advantage of the reduction in pension age and retired earlier. But, on the assumption that the 389W pattern of retirement of men between 64 and 69 were similar to the existing pattern of retirement of men between 65 and 70, a situation which would be unlikely to come about for several years after the reduction in pension age, it is estimated that there would be an increase of about 230,000 in the number of pensioners, of whom about 200,000 would otherwise have been in employment. [he assumption that all the vacancies so created would be filled by people at present on the unemployment register is extremely speculative; but, if true, the net annual cost to the National Insurance Fund and in supplementary benefit, at current benefit rates, would be about £65 million.