§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the numbers currently below the lower earning threshold of national insurance and the376W number estimated in this category for each of the five decades following the introduction of the state second pension. [65172]
§ Ms Hewitt[holding answer 11 January 1999]: I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Frank Field, dated 18 January 1999:
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question about people earning less than the lower earnings threshold for National Insurance contributions.The latest estimates available from the UK Labour Force Survey are that, in summer 1998, 2,367,000 employees earned less than £64 per week (the lower limit for Class 1 National Insurance contributions in the current tax year). The vast majority of these, 2,174,000, worked part-time.Projections for future years are not available.