§ Lord BANKSasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will list in the Official Report the real weekly take-home pay of a married man with two children under 11 with earnings at the lowest decile for each year since 1964.
§ The PARLIAMENTARY UNDERSECRETARY of STATE, DEPARTMENT of the ENVIRONMENT (Baroness Birk)The figures are as follows:
Real weekly take-home pay (including family allowance or child benefit) at lower decile, at 1977–78 prices£ 1964–65 36.40 1965–66 37.70 1966–67 39.80 1967–68 39.90 1968–69 40.10 1969–70 39.90 1970–71 41.00 1971–72 41.80 1972–73 44.20 1973–74 44.10 1974–75 43.20 1975–76 42.50 1976–77 43.30 1977–78 44.10 The estimates of the lowest decile in the distribution of gross weekly earnings used in the calculation relate to all full-time men aged 21 and over. Estimates for 1970–71 and later years are derived from the New Earnings Survey. They relate to April in each year and to workers whose pay was not affected by absence.
Estimates for earlier years are derived from the smaller samples in the Family Expenditure Survey; consequently they are subject to much wider margins of sampling error than the NES estimates. They relate to the nearest calendar year and to normal weekly earnings of employees in survey households.
The Retail Prices Index used for 1977–78 is the average from April to December 1977, the latter being the latest month available.
842WAFor years up to 1974 it has been assumed that the employee was not contracted out of the graduated pension scheme.