§ Mr. AingerTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 11 December,Official Report, column 286, how many (a) single pensioners and (b) pensioner couples there were in which three quarters or more of the total income was derived from national insurance retirement and similar pensions and other state benefits in each of the last five financial years. [10844]
§ Mr. HealdThe information is in the table.
Year Number of single pensioners Number of pensioner couples 1989 calendar 2,750,000 950,000 1990 calendar 2,550,000 950,000 1992 calendar 2,550,000 1,000,000 1993 calendar 2,600,000 1,000,000 1994–95 financial 2,650,000 1,000,000 Notes:
1. The pensioners' incomes series gives estimates for pensioner units. A pensioner unit is defined as being either a single person over state pension age (SPA) or a couple where the man is over SPA.
2. Income from state benefits has been calculated as income form national insurance benefits and all other benefits that may be received above SPA, such as income related benefits and disability benefits.
3. The figures given are for the last five years for which pensioners' incomes series data is available, and rounded to the nearest 50,000. Due to this rounding, the totals may not necessarily sum to the totals given in my answer of 11 December Official Report, column 286.
Source:
Pensioners' incomes series. This is based mainly on data from the family expenditure survey carried out over calendar years up to and including 1993, and carried out over financial years from 1994–95 onwards, covering the whole of the United Kingdom.