§ Mr. David Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his best estimate of the proportion of the National Insurance contribution of the self-employed and the contribution on behalf of an employee which is required to pay pensions to those now in receipt of national insurance retirement and old age pensions.
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§ Mr. Orme,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 3rd February 1977; Vol. 925, c. 2901], gave the following information:
Contributions for national insurance are fixed so that the income to the National Insurance Fund in total is sufficient to meet the outgo under the scheme and an apportionment of the contributions for particular classes between benefits can only be made approximately on the basis of the total expenditure on the various benefits under the scheme. It is estimated that in 1976–77 about 69 per cent. of the total expenditure on benefits and the associated costs of administration will relate to retirement pensions; if benefits for which the self-employed do not qualify are left out of account the corresponding proportion rises to about 79 per cent.