HC Deb 03 March 1978 vol 945 cc420-1W
Mr. Penhaligon

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list county by county the percentage of the population that is retired.

Mr. Deakins

The most recent figures of the retired are from the 1971 census, and they relate to people who were described as retired on the census form. Estimates of the numbers of persons of pensionable age are available for mid-

Area Percentage enumerated population retired* Percentage population aged 65 and over (males) and 60 and over (females)
1971 Census 1971 Census Mid-1976
Greater London 10 16 18
Metropolitan Counties
Greater Manchester 10 16 17
Merseyside 9 15 17
South Yorkshire 9 15 16
Tyne and Wear 9 16 17
West Midlands 8 14 15
West Yorkshire 10 16 17
Non-Metropolitan Counties
Avon 11 17 18
Bedfordshire 8 13 13
Berkshire 8 13 14
Buckinghamshire 8 14 14
Cambridgeshire 9 15 15
Cheshire 9 14 15
Cleveland 8 13 14
Cornwall 15 21 21
Cumbria 10 17 19
Derbyshire 10 16 17
Devon 15 22 23
Dorset 17 24 24
Durham 9 16 16
East Sussex 20 28 29
Essex 10 16 16
Gloucestershire 11 17 17
Hampshire 10 16 17
Hereford and Worcester 9 16 16
Hertfordshire 8 13 14
Humberside 9 16 17
Isle of Wight 18 25 25
Kent 12 18 18
Lancashire 13 19 20
Leicestershire 9 15 16
Lincolnshire 10 17 18
Norfolk 12 19 20
Northamptonshire 8 16 16
Northumberland 10 17 18
North Yorkshire 12 19 18
Nottinghamshire 10 15 16
Oxfordshire 8 14 15
Salop 9 16 16
Somerset 13 19 20
Staffordshire 8 14 14
Suffolk 12 18 18
Surrey 10 16 17
Warwickshire 8 14 14
West Sussex 16 24 24
Wiltshire 9 15 16
Clwyd 12 19 19
Dyfed 12 19 19
Gwent 10 15 16
Gwynedd 14 21 21
Mid-Glamorgan 10 15 16
Powys 13 19 20
South Glamorgan 10 16 17
West Glamorgan 10 17 18
* Does not include women who were described as housewives.