§ Ms. Richardsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many women claimed widows' allowance, broken down by age showing (a)the number who were aged less than 40 years, (b)the number who were aged 60 or more and (c) by single years the number who were aged between 40 and 59 years, or the nearest available information, and for the latest available year.
§ Mr. WhitneyThe information requested is as follows:
Awards of widow's pension following widow's allowance in 12 months to 31 March 1983 Age of widow at husband's death Numbers of awards of succeeding benefit Age-related widow's pension Widow's pension Under 40 * * 40 100 * 41 180 * 42 180 * 43 320 * 44 380 * 45 320 * 46 480 * 47 590 * 48 810 * 49 1,030 * 50 * 1,460 51 * 1,720 52 * 2,220 53 * 2,280 54 * 2,900 55 * 3,260 56 * 3,470 57 * 3,660 58 * 4,070 59 * 1,880 60 and over * 170 * Not applicable. Information about the number of widows in receipt of widow's allowance who have no entitlement to a succeeding widow's benefit is not available.
§ Ms. Richardsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many women stopped claiming widowed mothers' allowance and began to claim (a) age-related widows' pension, (b) widows' pension and (c) no widows' benefit, showing them in each case broken down by age into (i) those aged 60 years or more, (ii) by single years those aged 40 to 59 years or the closest available breakdown and (iii) those aged less than 40 years for the latest available year.
§ Mr. WhitneyThe information requested is as follows:
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Awards of widow's pension following termination of widowed mother's allowance* in the 12 months to 30 September 1983 Age of widow Awards of succeeding benefit No succeeding benefit Age-related widow's pension Widow's pension Under 40 † † ‡490 40 60 † 50 41 170 † 80 42 220 † 10
Age of widow Awards of succeeding benefit No succeeding benefit Age-related widow's pension Widow's pension 43 350 † 30 44 390 † 20 45 440 † 20 46 470 † 40 47 650 † 30 48 710 † — 49 840 † 10 50 † 920 20 51 † 1,030 40 52 † 1,030 — 53 † 1,280 10 54 † 1,170 10 55 † 1,210 10 56 † 1,200 20 57 † 1,210 — 58 † 870 10 59 † 1,020 — 60 and over † 460 10 * Including widowed mother's allowance (personal). † Not applicable. ߥ No succeeding benefit available. 1. Terminations of widowed mother's allowance with no succeeding benefit for widows over 40 occur as a result of disqualification eg because of "living together".
2. This 12 month series is an aggregate of statistics from two six-monthly periods ended 31 March 1983 and 30 September 1983 The age of the widow is the age at the sample date, thus some of the widows from the March enquiry would he a year older than shown by 31 September 1983.
§ Ms. Richardsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was (a) the total number of widows receiving widows' pension at the full rate, (b) receiving age-related widows' pension at each of the age-related rates, showing separately those with reduced pensions for contribution reasons but counting them as if they received benefit at the full rate at the latest available date.
§ Mr. WhitneyAt 30 September 1983 177,320 widows were receiving widow's pension at the standard rate and 13,910 receiving a reduced rate on account of contribution deficiencies. From the available information on age-related widow's pension it is not possible to classify those widows whose age-related pension is reduced on account of contribution deficiencies according to their age. For example, a widow receiving a pension of 65 per cent. of the standard rate could be either a woman widowed at 45 whose late husband had a full contribution record or a woman widowed at a later age whose late husband's record was deficient. The number of widows receiving an age-related widow's pension at 30 September 1983 is as follows:
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Widows receiving age-related widow's pension at rate appropriate to age Age at widowhood or cessation of WMA* Rate of pension (per cent.) Number of widows 40 30 3,800 41 37 3,200 42 44 4,160 43 51 6,090 44 58 7,830 45 65 9,800 46 72 11,270 47 79 14,070 48 86 17,040 49 93 21,300 Total 98,560
Widows receiving age-related pension reduced on account of contribution deficiencies Rate of pension (per cent.) Number of widows less than 30 3,680 31 to 36 1,060 38 to 43 1,430 45 to 50 1,110 52 to 57 1,240 59 to 64 1,420 66 to 77 1,150 73 to 78 1,070 80 to 85 1,220 87 to 92 590 Total 13,970 * Widowed Mother's Allowance
§ Ms. Richardsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will estimate how many widows each year would (a) be denied age-related widows' pension altogether, (b) move across each of the age bands to the next lower rate, showing the movement across each age band separately and (c) get age-related widows' pension rather than full widows' pension; and what would be the total annual saving to public funds if the relevant date for determining entitlement to widows' pension or age-related widows' pension were brought forward from the date of expiry of entitlement to widows' allowance to the date of bereavement;
(2) if he will estimate how many new claimants each year would (a) be denied age-related widows' pension altogether, (b) get a lower age-related widows' pension, showing the movement from each age band separately and (c) get age-related widows' pension rather than full widow's pension, showing the movement into each age band separately; and what would be the annual saving to public funds if the age bands for entitlement to age-related widows' pensions were each raised by five years.
§ Mr. NewtonThe relevant date for determining entitlement to widow's pension or age-related widow's pension is not the date of expiry of entitlement to widow's allowance but the date of bereavement, except in the case of a widow who has been receiving widowed mother's allowance for whom the relevant date is that on which her entitlement to widowed mother's allowance ceases. The table gives estimates of the number of new claimants each year who would be affected if the age bands for entitlement to age-related widow's pension were raised by five years.
The financial effects and numbers of widows affected by the raising of the age bands for age-related widow's pension by five years would build up over time, since pensions already in payment would not be affected. The financial effects of such a change would depend on what assumptions were made about benefit rates, and entitlements to income-tested benefits. However, we estimate that the combined effect on the national insurance fund of all the proposals for widows' benefits in the Green Paper "Reform of Social Security" (Cmnd. 9517), including the raising of the age bands for widow's pension by five years, would be to increase expenditure from the fund by about £28 million in the first full year. In the second year the effect would be broadly neutral, and savings would build up after then with an approximate saving of £50 million by the fifth full year. These figures assume current benefit rates and that the new lump sum payment would be £1,000.
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New Claimants who would be affected by the raising of the age bands for age-related widows pension from 40–50 to 45–55 (a) Number with no entitlement to age-related pension =1,500 (b) Number who would get an age-related pension at a lower rate than now Age 45 = 200 46 = 500 47 = 600 48 = 1,000 49 = 1,200 Total = 3,500 (c) Number who would get age-related pension rather than full widows pension Age 50 = 1,600 51 = 1,500 52 = 2,300 53 = 2,500 54 = 3,100 Total = 11,000 Note to table: Total numbers above are accurate only to nearest 500 except for those below 500 which are to the nearest 100. They are derived from 1983 estimates of the number of widows receiving widows benefits.