§ Mr. Peter Reesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the number of employed and the number of self-employed persons for the purposes of the National Insurance Scheme in each of the past 10 years and the aggregate benefits paid to each group in each of the past 10 years, together with a breakdown under different heads of benefit.
§ Mr. O'MalleyThe estimated numbers of employed and self-employed contributors in each of the last 10 complete calendar years is shown in the table below. It is not possible to apportion benefit expenditure in the way requested.
NUMBER OF CONTRIBUTORS IN MILLIONS Calendar year Employed persons Self-employed persons 1964 … … … 23.40 1.42 1965 … … … 23.57 1.42 1966 … … … 23.56 1.44 1967 … … … 23.31 1.48 1968 … … … 23.23 1.52 1969 … … … 23.11 1.58 1970 … … … 22.84 1.59 1971 … … … 22.63 1.60 1972 … … … 22.65 1.61 1973* … … … 22.65 1.62 * Provisional.