§ 17. Mrs. Kellett-Bowmanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what will be the additional total sum which will be raised from married women by the increase in contributions from 0.6 per cent. to 2 per cent. in the "married women's option" contained in the Social Security Amendment Bill.
§ 33. Mr. Cormackasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how much extra money it is estimated will be raised in 1975–76 from the higher national insurance rates proposed in the Social Security Amendment Bill; and what the estimated increase in the Exchequer contribution will be.
§ 34. Mr. Fairgrieveasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how much extra money it is estimated will be raised in 1975–76 from the alterations in the national insurance rates for employees proposed in the Social Security Amendment Bill.
§ Mr. O'MalleySince the answer contains a number of figures I will, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT. It shows that the additional income of £610 million in 1975–76 includes £47 million from opted-out married women, £83 million from other employees and £21 million from the self-employed.
§ Mrs. Kellett-BowmanDoes the Minister realise that three out of four married women who exercise the option will regard the payment of an additional £47 million as a great hardship? Does he recall admitting that with the present high rate of inflation the income earned by women is no longer merely a pleasant extra bit of money but is an essential part of the family budget? In these days of inflation women want to maximise their earnings and not pay £47 million for the benefit of the National Insurance Scheme.
§ Mr. O'MalleyI am afraid that the hon. Lady is too often wrong, and she is again wrong this afternoon. I think that married women will be pleased that as a result of the structure which begins to operate from April 1975 they will not be paying more. A married woman with an income of £46 a week, if she is not contracted out, will have a decrease of £1.18 on her national insurance contributions, and if she is contracted out she will have a decrease of 80p. The generality of married women will be paying far less as from April 1975. I do not see how the Opposition can make that into an increase.
§ Mr. CormackNotwithstanding his remarks about married women, will the hon. Gentleman please look again at the position of the self-employed, who are getting a raw deal? Now that the other place has given the Government a chance to reflect upon the enormity of this imposition, will they at long last see sense and do something?
§ Mr. O'MalleyIf it were true—we do not accept that it is—that the self-employed are getting a raw deal, it is a raw deal under the structure which the Government inherited from the previous administration. We have reduced in real terms the contributions which at least one-third and perhaps up to one-half of the self-employed will pay as from April 1975 compared with the proposals put forward under the Social Security Act 1973.
§ Following is the information:
§ The increase in income from Class I and 4 contributions in 1975–76 resulting from the new rates in the Social Security Amendment Bill, compared with the rates in the Social Security Act 1973, will at July 1974 earnings levels be as follows:
| £ million | |
| Opted-out married women | 47 |
| Other employees | 83 |
| Employers | 366 |
| Class 4 | 21 |
| Total | 517 |
| Treasury supplement (18 per cent) | 93 |
| Grand total | 610 |
§ These figures ignore the extra delay in the receipt of earnings-related contributions and exclude the effect of bringing up to the 1974 level the outdated flate-rate Class 2 and 3 contributions originally enacted in the 1973 Act.