Married Women (Separate Assessment)

HC Deb 03 April 1978 vol 947 cc67-8W

Mr. Lawson

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, further to the Written Answer to the hon. Member for Blaby on 6th March, Official Report, column 524, if he will provide a revised table in which earning wives are counted as separate taxpayers.

Mr. Robert Sheldon,

pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 20th March 1978; Vol. 946, c. 400], gave the following information:

Counting earning wives as separate taxpayers the figures are as follows:

Year	Number of taxpayers('000)
1967–68	23,300
1968–69	24,200
1969–70	23,800
1970–71	23,100
1971–72	23,400
1972–73	21,700
1973–74	23,300
1974–75	24,500
1975–76	25,400
1976–77	25,900*
1977–78	24,700*
* Provisional.

A significant proportion of this increase arises from the increased activity rates of married women: in the period 1971 to 1977, the proportion of economically active married women rose from 42.2 per cent. to about 50 per cent.