§ Mr. Ieuan Wyn JonesTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of expenditure of total disposable household income was accounted for by life assurance and pension fund payments in 1990; and what is the estimated percentage level for the current year.
§ Mr. MaplesHousehold disposable income, and hence expenditure of that income, excludes amounts paid as pension contributions, whether to the state scheme or to occupational schemes. Contributions to the latter type of scheme, together with life assurance premiums paid by individuals, are estimated to have amounted in 1990 to 7.6 445W per cent. of households' current expenditure. The latter aggregate has been adjusted to include the occupational scheme contributions. There is no official estimate of this percentage in 1991.
Contributions to the state scheme are intended to fund social security benefits of all types and no estimate is made of the proportion which notionally finances state pensions.