§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the State pension for a married couple in January 1972; by what percentage it has increased up to January 1979; and how this compares with the increase in the average weekly wage over the same period.
§ Mr. OrmeI regret that the latest information about the level of average earnings relates to November 1978. In January 1972, the standard rate of national insurance retirement pension for a married couple was £9.70. In November 1978 it was £31.20, an increase of 221–6 per cent. Over the same period average earnings* rose by 168.1 per cent.
* Average gross weekly earnings of male, adult full-time manual workers as determined by the Department of Employment's October inquiry into the earnings of manual workers employed in manufacturing and certain other industries and the monthly index of average earnings —old series.