§ Mr. Peter Bottomleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proportion of married women in, respectively, full-time and part-time employment, are paying the married women's reduced-rate national insurance contribution.
§ Mr. OrmeUnder the contributions arrangements in force up to April 1975 the proportion of married women in Class 1 employment who chose not to pay flat-rate national insurance contributions had, for many years, stood at about three-quarters of those in such employment. There is nothing to suggest that the proportion of married women in employment who paid reduced-rate contributions under the present arrangements in 1975–76 and 1976–77 was significantly different. However, from April 1977 the right of married women to pay reduced-rate contributions is being phased out and, although no figures are available, the expectation must be that the proportion paying such contributions is now falling.
The Department's records do not differentiate between full-time and part-time employment.