HC Deb 15 October 2001 vol 372 cc866-7W
Mr. Webb

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the number of women born between 24 September and 25 December 1941 who are alive. [7569]

Ruth Kelly

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Steve Webb, dated 15 October 2001: As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question concerning the number of women born between 24 September and 25 December 1941 who are alive (7569). It is estimated that there are 72 thousand women in the United Kingdom who were born between these dates. This figure has been derived using the latest available national population projections produced by the Government Actuary's Department. These estimate that the total number of women in the United Kingdom reaching the age of 59 by June 2001 is 306.4 thousand. These women will have been born between July 1941 and June 1942. Data on the pattern of births in 1941 and 1942 from the Office for National Statistics indicates that of the total number of 59 year old women in June 2001, 72 thousand can be estimated as having been born between 24 September and 25 December 1941.