Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Income Replacement – 17 February 1987

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Income Replacement on 17th February 1987.

Mr. Alfred Morris Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list for each country in the European community in the last year for which figures are available the proportion of his previous earnings an insured person with average earnings would receive from statutory income replacement schemes, whether administered by Government or another body (a) during the first six months of incapacity for work, (b) during incapacity for work which has lasted between six and 12 months, (c) during incapacity for work which has lasted more than 12 months, (d) during the first six months of unemployment and (e) on retirement at the normal retirement age in each country.

Mr. Major Most income replacement schemes on the continent of Europe are on an earnings-related basis and the figures requested by the right hon. Member are contained in the DHSS publication, “Tables of Social Benefit Systems in the European Communities (Position at 1 January 1986)”, a copy of which is in the Library.

The United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands operate mainly flat rate income replacement schemes, so that the replacement rate will vary between high and low earners. The figures for the United Kingdom for a person on average earnings are given in section 5 of “Abstract of Statistics for Index of Retail Prices, Average Earnings, Social Security Benefits and Contributions” – August 1986, a copy of which is also in the Library. Comparable weekly earnings figures for Ireland and the Netherlands are not readily available.