To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of retiring people currently receive an occupational pension and what the proportion was in 1979; and what was the average value of an occupational pension in 1979 and in the latest year for which figures are available. [3587]

In 1979, 55 per cent. of recently retired pensioners were receiving an occupational pension with an average value of £56.10 per week. By 1993, the latest year for which figures are available, the proportion in receipt had risen to 66 per cent. and the average value to £89.10.