Mr. Alan WilliamsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the income and capital ceilings of each relevant benefit were established; and if he will calculate the value when set at current prices of each ceiling. [115905]
Angela EagleMThe information is in the table.
Notes:
1. Estimates are for Great Britain.
2. Single pensioners are defined as single (non-cohabiting) people over state pension age (65 for men, 60 for women); pensioner couples are defined as couples (married or cohabiting) where the man is over state pension age.
3. Total net income is defined as net income after housing costs, and is based on September 1999 prices, uprated from 1997–98 data using the Retail Prices Index all items excluding housing costs. Therefore, this analysis assumes that the real value of pensioners' net incomes after housing costs is the same in September 1999 as in 1997–98, whereas in practice they would have tended to have risen.
4. Estimates are given to the nearest 10,000 or 1 per cent., but are not necessarily accurate to that degree.
Source:
Family Resources Survey 1997–98.