§ 100. Mr. Patrick ThompsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has as to how many countries in the European Economic Community pay a basic pension of equal value to all or most elderly people.
§ Mr. ScottDenmark and the United Kingdom pay flat-rate pensions to almost all pensioners, plus earnings-related additions. Ireland and the Netherlands pay flat-rate pensions to those who have satisfied contribution conditions, but do not pay separate pensions to married women without a contribution record of their own. The Netherlands also has an earnings-related top-up. Other EC countries have earnings-related pension systems in which the level of final pension depends on the individual's own average earnings and contribution record. Some have thresholds to ensure that no contributor falls below a minimum regardless of actual earnings-related entitlement. Separate pensions are not available in other EC countries to wives without a contribution record.