§ Mr. Spellerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the values, expressed in 1981 terms, of the standard retirement pensions paid to a single person and to a married couple in the years 1951, 1961, 1971, and 1981; and how many persons in each category were in receipt of the standard retirement pensions in those years.
§ Mr. RossiBased on the movements in the general index of retail prices, and assuming a 10 per cent. increase in the index between November 1980 and November 1981, the values in November 1981 terms of the standard rate basic retirement pensions paid to single persons and married couples in 1951, 1961, 1971 and 1981 are set out in the following table. The months are those in which the pensions were or will be uprated.
Date Single Person Married Couples (£) (£) September 1951 12.22 20.37 April 1961 17.24 27.74 September 1971 22.31 36.07 November 1981 29.60 47.35 The number of persons in these catagories in receipt of standard rate basic retirement pensions in the years 1961, 1971 and 1980—latest available—were:
Year Single Persons Married Couples 1961 3,370,000 1,010,000 1971 4,220,000 1,400,000 1980 4,650,000 1,720,000 No comparable figures are available for 1951, but at that time there were 2,700,000 single persons and 730,000 married couples receiving all rates of retirement pension, of which the great majority would be receiving the standard rate.