HC Deb 13 April 1999 vol 329 cc155-7W
Mr. Webb

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide data on the earnings levels of(a) all pensioners, (b) newly retired pensioners and (c) pensioners aged 75 years or over, in a format consistent with Tables VI and VII of the Pensioner Incomes Series, based on the 1995–96 Family Resources Survey. [80424]

Mr. Timms

The information is in the table.

Proportion of pensioners with earnings and the average amount of earnings
1994–95 1995–96 1996–97
Proportion with income from earnings (percentage)
All pensioner units 8 8 8
Newly retired pensioner units 20 20 20
Pensioner units aged 75 years or over 2 2 2
Average earnings (£ per week) of those in receipt Mean amounts
All pensioner units 190 177 198
Newly retired pensioner units 206 188 209
Pensioner units aged 75 years or over 178 150 156
Median amounts
All pensioner units 113 100 112
Newly retired pensioner units 140 117 139
Pensioner units aged 75 years or over 99 76 58

Notes:

  1. 1. All money amounts are given in £ per week at July 1996 prices.
  2. 2. Earnings are defined as earned income from either employment or self employment.
  3. 3. "Pensioner units" are defined as single people over state pension age (60 and over for women, 65 and over for men) and couples (married or cohabiting) where the man is aged over State pension age.
  4. 4. 'Newly retired pensioner units' are defined as those less than five years older than State pension age; ie single women aged 60–64, single men aged 65–69, and couples in which the man is aged 65–69.
  5. 5. 'Pensioner units aged 75 years or over' are defined as single people aged 75 or over, and couples in which the man is aged 75 or over.
  6. 6. All figures, and particularly those for pensioner units aged 75 or over, should be treated with caution since they are based on small sample sizes.

Source:

Family Resources Survey

Mr. Webb

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the income sources which his Department has included in the category of investment income for the purpose of the Pensioner Incomes Series; and if he will provide a breakdown of the contribution of each to total investment income of(a) newly retired pensioners, (b) all pensioners aged under 75 years, including newly retired pensioners and (c) all pensioners aged 75 years or above. [80423]

Mr. Timms

The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows.

The Pensioners' Incomes Series 1996–97 is based mainly on data from the Family Expenditure Survey (FES). The following sources of income collected in the FES are included in the investment income category:

Interest on money held in accounts:

Bank accounts

Building Society accounts

National Savings Bank ordinary accounts

National Savings Bank investment accounts

Tax Exempt Special Savings Accounts

Other savings or deposit accounts

Income from stocks and shares, unit trusts, gilts, Personal Equity Plans.

British savings bonds interest.

Income from annuities, trusts covenants personal pensions.

Property income.

Other unearned income from royalties, sleeping partnerships, overseas pensions.

The Pensioners' Incomes Series also includes tables based on the Family Resources Survey (FRS), which uses slightly different questions. Therefore, while the total investment income category is comparable between the two surveys, the individual sources listed may be grouped in different ways.

It is not possible to estimate the contribution of each individual source to the total investment income estimates provided in The Pensioners' Incomes Series. This is because estimates relating to those pensioners with very high incomes are based on data from the Survey of Personal Incomes of the Board of the Inland Revenue. This survey does not provide a detailed breakdown of individual sources of investment income.

Mr. Field

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of the pensioner incomes coming from the state in 2050, as predicted in the Green Paper, Partnership in Pensions, will be delivered via means-tested benefits. [80391]

Mr. Timms

The information requested is not available.

Projections forward to the year 2050 are subject to a high degree of uncertainty given the number of assumptions that need to be made in making these estimates. Some of those who will be pensioners in 2050 have yet to begin work, and most are today in their 20s and 30s.

Estimates of the numbers of pensioners receiving the Minimum Income Guarantee have been made by extrapolating estimates from the PENSIM model, but these can give only a broad indication of the likely order of magnitude of figures so far into the future. The

PENSIM projections can be applied only to estimates of the proportion of pensioners on the Minimum Income Guarantee. Breakdowns of individual pensioner incomes into components including State pension payments and other income related benefits (such as Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit) are not available as these projections would require many more assumptions to be made and would be surrounded by an unacceptable level of uncertainty.