§ Mr. Michael Brownasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the percentage of the United Kingdom national income spent on (a) social security and (b) health; and how this compares with (i) the rest of the EEC, 87W (ii) the United States of America, (iii) Canada and (iv) Australia.
§ Sir George YoungThe latest information available to me relates to financial years ending in 1974 and was published earlier this year in the report of the International Labour Organisation entitledThe Cost of Social Security. The following percentages have been derived from that information:
Country Expenditure on health (1) as percentage of gross domestic product Expenditure on social security (cash benefits) as a percentage of gross domestic product Belgium 19.4 Denmark 9.7 10.8 France 5.2 13.9 Germany 5.8 13.6 Ireland 5.8 9.2 Italy 6.0 13.7 Luxembourg 2.6 13.9 Netherlands 5.2 18.7 United Kingdom 4.8 8.8 United States of America 3.8 7.9 Canada 5.4 8.1 Australia 10.6 Notes:
(1) Public expenditure on health. Includes value of non-medical benefits in kind, such as, for the United Kingdom, personal social services.
(2) Administration costs are excluded from the above table.
Problems of definition mean that it is difficult to make a meaninguful comparison between these percentages. Account needs to be taken of, for example, the fact that the ILO found it impossible in some cases to separate relevant data from other data. This was particularly the case in relation to health costs. The extent to which social security and health provision is made through non-statutory arrangements, and therefore not reflected in the figures, also varies widely.