§ Mr. Lawrenceasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what a married man earning £10,000 a year in 1974 would have to earn currently, after taking into account income tax, family allowance, and national insurance, for the equivalent in real terms, if he had then and has at
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Net income 1974–75 Real value of net income in 1976–77 at 1974–75 prices Gross income required to give net income in Col. (2) in 1976–77 Equivalent net income to that in Col. (1) at 1976–77 prices Gross income required to give net income in Col. (4) in 1976–77 Married couple with: 1 child not over 11 6,185.27 4,335.79 6,362 8,823.67 18,277 2 children not over 11 6,324.47 4,433.37 6,379 9,022.24 18,172 3 children (2 not over 11, 1 over 11, but not over 16) 6,483.97 4,545.17 6,398 9,249.78 18,077 4 children (2 not over 11, 2 over 11, but not over 16) 6,643.47 4,656.98 6,418 9,477.32 17,982 Gross income in column 3 includes family allowance. At the income levels of the other columns it would be to the taxpayer's advantage to relinquish the allowance. 1974–75 gross earnings were £10,000 in all cases. The price index used was the average general index of retail prices for the tax years 1974–75 and the first 11 months of 1976–77. "Real net income" in column 2 takes account of the change in the retail price index between 1974–75 and the first 11 months of 1976–77, whilst "equivalent net income" in column 4 is the net income necessary to maintain the purchasing power of the 1974–75 net income in column 1.