§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pensioners were claiming invalidity benefit for each year since the benefit's inception; and what percentage these figures are of the total number of claimants in those years.
§ Mr. ScottThe available information is in the table.
Date Invalidity benefit claimants over pension age Percentage of total invalidity benefit claimants 3 June 1972 14,000 3.4 2 June 1973 17,000 3.9 1 June1974 20,000 4.5 31 May 1975 24,000 5.3 6 June1976 21,000 4.4 4 June 1977 28,000 5.5 3 Jun 1978 36,000 6.4 2 June 1979 43,000 7.0 31 May 1980 52,000 8.5 30 May 1981 52,000 8.2 29 May 1982 57,000 8.3 2 April 1983 62,000 8.4 31 March 1984 68,000 8.5 30 March 1985 84,000 9.9 5 April 1986 101,000 11.2 4 April 1987 127,000 13.1 2 April 1988 150,000 14.3 1 April 1989 174,000 15.5 31 March 1990 206,000 17.0 30 March 1991 238,000 18.2 Notes:
1. Figures for 1972 to 1976 based on a 2 per cent. sample of claimants; 1977 to 1978 on a 2.5 per cent. sample; 1979 to 1991 on a 1 per cent. sample.
2. All figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.