§ Mr. Alexander W. Lyonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the social wage for a man with two children on average industrial earnings on 3 May; and what is estimated to be the effect of changes in the Budget.
§ Mr. BiffenThe "social wage", as defined by the last Government, is simply total expenditure on certain of the programmes in the public expenditure survey in any particular year divided by the number of people in the working population. Much of the expenditure covered, for example on pensions, is
778Wcome, including child benefit, enjoyed in 1979–80 by a single person, a married couple without children and a married couple with one child, two children, three children and four children; and if he will express these values in real terms at 1945 prices.
§ Mr. Peter ReesThe amounts of income which can be received in 1979–80 before there is liability to tax, are as follows:
emolument were taxed; and to what extent the Budget proposals will affect persons in this situation.
§ Mr. Peter ReesTax liability on car benefits depends on several factors. If tax were chargeable on £12,800, taken as the highest slice of income where the only other source of income was a salary of £13,000 per annum, the tax payable would be as follows:
specifically directed to people who are not part of the working population. Therefore it in no sense represented the additional income or the benefits-in-kind that the average household derives from public expenditure; and it could not be calculated for particular family types or for particular days of the year.