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Pension Credit

Volume 448: debated on Thursday 6 July 2006

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of female pensioners were (a) eligible to claim and (b) receiving pension credit in (i) the UK, (ii) Wales, (iii) Scotland and (iv) England in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. (69554)

The information is not available in the format requested. Information on female beneficiaries of pension credit in Great Britain is in the following table. In Northern Ireland, pension credit administration is a matter for the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

Female beneficiaries of pension credit in Great Britain February 2006

Female beneficiaries

Female beneficiaries as a percentage of women 60 or over1

Wales

130,080

34

Scotland

222,610

36

England

1,817,280

31

Great Britain

2,169,960

32

1 Beneficiaries includes single women in receipt of pension credit, and women in couples who are in receipt of pension credit. Notes: 1. These figures are early estimates. The preferred data source for figures supplied by DWP is the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS). However, the figures provided are the latest available figures which are taken from the GMS scan at 17 February 2006. These are adjusted using the historical relationship between WPLS and GMS data to give an estimate of the final WPLS figure. Average amounts are displayed as at the scan reference data of 17 February 2006. 2. Case loads are rounded to the nearest 10. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 3. Percentages are rounded to the nearest full point. 4. Figures may include female partners who are aged under 60. 5. Population figures used in the percentage calculation are based on ONS mid-term 2004 population estimates. Source: Department for Work and Pensions 100 per cent. data from the Generalised Matching Service (GMS). Pension credit scan taken as at 17 February 2006.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the (a) number and (b) proportion of pensioners who will be entitled to receive pension credit in (i) 2010, (ii) 2020, (iii) 2030, (iv) 2040 and (v) 2050, assuming pension credit remains linked to earnings growth; and if he will make a statement. (70286)

The numbers eligible for pension credit in the future are subject to a range of uncertainties and a number of factors including policies on uprating different benefits. Table 1 shows the projected number and proportion of pensioner households eligible for pension credit under the proposals contained in the White Paper “Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system.”

Table 1: Projected number and proportion of pensioner households eligible for pension credit for selected years under the White Paper proposals.Number of pensioner households eligible (million)Percentage of pensioner households eligible20104.154420203.454120302.953120402.802720502.9529 Notes: 1. Projections of the number and proportion of pensioner households eligible for pension credit are sensitive to modelling assumptions and to projected changes in the distribution of pensioner incomes. 2. The estimates of proportions shown here are the mid-points of projections taken from two separate micro-simulation models. Modelling of the reform proposals does not include any increase in private saving from the introduction of personal accounts, which would further reduce the numbers eligible for pension credit. 3. Projections of the number of pensioner households eligible for pension credit are derived from the projected proportions eligible and projections of the number of pensioner households in Great Britain. 4. These projections assume: continued earnings uprating of the standard guarantee credit; earnings uprating of the savings credit threshold from 2008 to 2014; earnings uprating of the basic state pension from 2012; price uprating of the maximum savings credit from 2015; measures to improve coverage of the basic state pension described in the White Paper. 5. Estimates cover all those aged above women’s state pension age in the private household population of Great Britain. 6. Estimates account for equalisation of state pension age between 2010 and 2020. They also account for the proposed further increases in state pension age described in the White Paper. The estimates assume that the minimum age at which people can claim pension credit rises in line with women’s state pension age. 7. Estimates are calibrated to the mid-points of the 2004-5 National Statistics range estimates of non-eligibility to pension credit, which adjust 2004-05 Family Resources Survey data to take account of possible biases in reporting. Although the estimates here are not presented as ranges, they are subject to a margin of uncertainty. 8. Estimates of the number of pensioner households eligible are rounded to the nearest 50,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his estimate is of the proportion of pensioner benefit units entitled to pension credit in each year between 2002-03 and 2020-21; and if he will make a statement. (70296)

The numbers eligible for pension credit in the future are subject to a range of uncertainties and a number of factors including policies on uprating different benefits. Table 1 shows the estimated proportion of all pensioner households eligible for pension credit from 2003-04—the first year in which pension credit was available—to 2007-08. Table 2 shows projections from 2008-09 to 2020-21 under the proposals contained in the White Paper “Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system.”

Table 1: Estimated proportion of pensioner households eligible for pension credit under the current system

Percentage

2003-04

48

2004-05

46

2005-06

45

2006-07

45

2007-08

46

Table 2: Projected proportion of pensioner households eligible for pension credit for selected years under the White Paper proposals

Percentage

2008-09

45

2009-10

45

2010-11

44

2011-12

45

2012-13

45

2013-14

44

2014-15

44

2015-16

44

2016-17

43

2017/18

42

2018-19

41

2019-20

41

2020-21

41

Notes: 1. Projections of the proportion of pensioner households eligible for pension credit are sensitive to modelling assumptions and to projected changes in the distribution of pensioner incomes. 2. The estimates of proportions shown here are the mid-points of projections taken from two separate micro-simulation models. Modelling of the reform proposals does not include any increase in private saving from the introduction of personal accounts, which would further reduce the numbers eligible for pension credit. 3. The reform projections assume: continued earnings uprating of the standard guarantee credit; earnings uprating of the savings credit threshold from 2008 to 2014; earnings uprating of the basic state pension from 2012; price uprating of the maximum savings credit from 2015; measures to improve coverage of the basic state pension described in the White Paper. 4. Estimates cover all those aged above women's state pension age in the private household population of Great Britain. 5. Estimates account for equalisation of state pension age between 2010 and 2020. They also account for the proposed further increases in state pension age described in the White Paper. The estimates assume that the minimum age at which people can claim pension credit rises in line with women's state pension age. 6. Estimates are calibrated to the mid-points of the 2004/5 National Statistics range estimates of non-eligibility to Pension Credit, which adjust 2004/5 Family Resources Survey data to take account of possible biases in reporting. Although the estimates here are not presented as ranges, they are subject to a margin of uncertainty.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many plastic folder-style pension credit wallets have been printed by the Pension Service. (80874)

The pension credit “plastic folder style” wallets were designed to allow customers to store their pension credit correspondence. Production of these wallets ceased in February 2003; approximately 1,350,000 were produced.