At present there are 100,710 people in receipt of a widow or widower's (contributory) pension. Of these, 34,124 are aged under 66 and 66,586 are aged over 66. Age 66 is regarded as the standard qualifying age for pension purposes under the social welfare system. The current arrangements, whereby increased payments are generally made to those over 66 years of age, reflect the Government's commitment to our older people. Accordingly, there is a higher payment to those in receipt of the widow or widower's (contributory) pension who are aged over 66. In line with the Government's commitment to pensioners and as announced in budget 2001, I decided to increase the widow and widower's (contributory) pension rate for recipients aged over 66 to the full old age (contributory) pension rate over two budgets. The special increase of £12.90 per week which came into effect in April was the first step in this process.
The maximum rate of widow and widower's (contributory) pension is now £102 per week for those aged over 66. The current maximum rate of payment for those aged under 66 is £89.10 per week. Significant extra resources are being allocated to improving the position of pensioners. In addition, the Government is committed to improving the position of all other welfare recipients, particularly those with children. The Government is committed to dramatically increasing child benefit by £1 billion over the next three years. In budget 2001 I provided for an increase of £25 per month for each of the first and second children and £30 per month for each of the third and subsequent children. These increases came into effect in June of this year, three months earlier than normal, and will be of major benefit to the 8,900 people aged under 66 who have children and are in receipt a widow or widower's contributory pension.
In budget 2000 I introduced the widowed parent's grant to provide additional support to those with children, for the difficult time immediately after a bereavement. This grant of £1,000 is payable in addition to the bereavement grant of £500 and other after-death payment arrangements.
Additional information.
The adequacy of all welfare payments is being reviewed by a working group, established under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, to examine the range of issues associated with the benchmarking and indexation of social welfare payments. The level of payments to widowed people will be examined in the context of that working group. I understand the group is aiming to conclude its deliberations at the end of this month and I believe the final report will be presented shortly thereafter. Social welfare provision for widowed people will be kept under review in the context of overall budgetary considerations.