HC Deb 27 June 1978 vol 952 cc508-9W
Mr. Shepherd

asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish figures for 1970, 1974 and 1977 for a married man with two children under the age of 11 years earning average male manual earnings, showing the length of time after taking into account income tax liability and national insurance contribution necessary to pay for each of the following items: weekly rent of a three-bedroomed council dwelling, mortgage repayment, interest and principal. on a newly built three-bedroomed semidetached house, 3 lb. of beef sirloin, 2 lb. of fresh cod, 14 lb. of potatoes, a standard large loaf, ½ lb. of tea, a quart of silver-top milk, 1 lb. of butter, a dozen standard sized eggs, 1 lb. of Cheddar-type cheese, 1 lb. of bacon, 5 cwt. of high quality coal, five gallons of petrol, a weekly season ticket between Surbiton and London, postage on five letters, a telegram of 12 words, a gentleman's hair-

Estimated (b) number of minutes work required to pay for items in:
October 1970 October 1974 October 1977
Weekly rent of three-bedroomed council dwelling 320 270 270
Weekly mortgage repayment, interest and principal, on a newly built three-bedroom semi-detached house 520 740 580
3 lbs of beef sirloin (without bone) 170 170 200
2 lbs of fresh cod fillets 54 71 86
14 lbs of potatoes (white) 30 31 28
Large loaf (unwrapped, unsliced, 28 oz) 11 10 12
½ lb of tea (medium priced) 21 13 28
2 pints of silver top milk 12 6 11
1 lb of butter 23 18 26
1 dozen eggs (standard) 23 27 23
1 lb cheddar (type) cheese 24 28 32
1 lb bacon:
Streaky smoked 28 34 35
Middle cut smoked 39 46 41
5 cwt high quality coal 510 380 580
5 gallons of petrol 200 200 180
Weekly season ticket: Surbiton-Waterloo 200 170 230
Postage on 5 letters 11 14 18
Telegram of 12 words (ordinary inland) 31 54 79
20 cigarettes (filter tip) 32 23 26
1 pint of beer 18 16 18
1 bottle of whisky 360 210 200

Notes:

(a) The earnings figures used are estimates of average gross weekly earnings for men aged 21 and over in all industries and services covered by the Department of Employment's regular inquiry into the earnings and hours of manual workers. Figures relate to October of each year.

(b) The calculations involve a substantial degree of approximation. Moreover, no allowances have been made for changes in quality over the period in question. Interpretation of the data should take these qualifications into account. The estimates are shown rounded to two significant figures.

(c) Information on haircuts has not been included in the above table since there are no comparable data available for the years in question.