§ Baroness Hollis of Heighamasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether retirement pension ages for men and women were equalised at (a) 60 years or (b) 63 years, what percentage of the jobs vacated might be filled by the unemployed; and on what assumptions their estimates are based.
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§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Social Security (Lord Henley)There is no evidence that earlier payment of pensions in fact encourages the creation of job opportunities for younger unemployed people. The job release scheme tried in the UK in the 'eighties which gave companies an incentive to retire employees early and take on unemployed people in their stead, had no discernible effect on the total number of jobs available. Moreover, other countries' experience illustrates that the proportion of newly vacated jobs which are filled by the unemployed is likely to be low. France reduced its pension age in 1981 from 65 to 60, since when unemployment has in fact risen.