§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish data on the spread of income of pensioners on the lowest decile of income and the highest decile of income in 1978–79 and 1994–95. [10743]
408W
§ Mr. HealdThe information is in the table. The figures represent the amount of the spread in income of pensioners between the 25th and the 75th percentile of each of the lowest decile and highest decile of the income distribution.
Inter-quartile range 1979£ 1994–95£ Bottom decile 30.40 28.20 Top decile 116.70 205.60 Notes
1.All estimates are £s per week in July 1994 prices, rounded to the nearest £0.10.
2.Data for 1979 are based upon an estimate for the calendar year 1979. The 1994–95 estimate is in respect of that financial year.
3.The estimates refer to all pensioner units. A pensioner unit is defined to be either a single person over state pension age, or a couple where the head, assumed to be the man, is aged over SPA.
4.The measure of spread provided is the inter-quartile range. which is the difference between the 25th percentile and the 75th percentile of an income distribution. This measure is subject to a large degree of statistical variability.
Source:
The pensioners' incomes series 1994–95.