HC Deb 16 July 2001 vol 372 cc60-1W
Mr. George Howarth

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people(a) retired and (b) drew their state pension in each year since 1996; how many people are over (i) 60, (ii) 65, (iii) 70, (iv) 75 and (v) 80 years; how many people are (a) eligible for the Minimum Income Guarantee for pensioners and (b) actually claiming the Minimum Income Guarantee for pensioners; and if he will make a statement. [2804]

Mr. McCartney

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

The latest estimates show that there are 10.5 million people of state pensionable age in Great Britain.

Numbers of retirement pensioners in receipt of Basic State Pension for the years March 1996 to March 2000
Thousand
Total ages
March 1996 10,315.4
March 1997 10,468.3
March 1998 10,633.7
March 1999 10,751.5
March 2000 10,881.9

Notes:

1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100 and expressed in thousands.

2. Includes all retirement pensioners resident in Great Britain, Overseas and Channel Islands.

Source:

5 per cent. sample from the Pension Strategy Computer System at March for each year.

Number of people over given ages
Men Women Total
People aged 60 and over 5.16 6.72 11.88
People aged 65 and over 3.79 5.3 9.08
People aged 70 and over 2.58 3.99 6.57
People aged 75 and over 1.55 2.75 4.3
People aged 80 and over 0.75 1.64 2.39

Note:

Numbers of people are in millions rounded to the nearest 10,000 people.

Source:

Information is from the GAD 1998 Population Projections.

The latest estimates of pensioners entitled to but not claiming Income Support (Minimum Income Guarantee since April 1999) are set out in the publication "Income Related Benefits—Estimates of Take Up in 1998–99", a copy of which is in the Library.

As at February 2001 there were 1,679,300 people in Great Britain claiming Minimum Income Guarantee.

Notes:

1. The figure provided for people in Great Britain claiming Minimum Income Guarantee is based on a 5 per cent. sample of cases.

2. The figure has been rounded to the nearest 100.

3. Claimants are those who, or their partners, are 60 years or over.

Source:

Income Support Statistics Quarterly Inquiries—February 2001.