§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the numbers of people who will no longer be able to claim widow's pension and will instead be entitled to the transitional time-limited allowance within each quintile of the income distribution. [73805]
§ Angela EagleThe position in each quintile of the income distribution of future claimants of Bereavement Allowance cannot be known.
598WThe information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the table.
Position of recipients of current widow's benefit in income distribution by quintile Percentage Income quintile Before housing costs After housing costs First 22 18 Second 23 19 Third 20 24 Forth 21 18 Top 15 22 Source:
Figures in the table are from the 1996–97 Households Below Average Income dataset based on the Family Resources Survey.