HC Deb 05 March 1979 vol 963 cc418-9W
Mr. Ralph Howell

asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many minutes a married man with two children and earnings equal to the average for (a) farm workers, (b) local authority and manual workers, (c) National Health Service ancillary staff, (d) car workers, has to work in order to pay for each of the following items, and what were the comparable figures in 1960 and 1970: one pound each of butter, bread, chuck steak, fresh cod, cheddar cheese, 12 eggs; 1 pint each of milk; 1 bottle of wine; I bottle whisky; 1 pint beer; 20 cigarettes; 100 units electricity; 10 miles (peak return) by train and by bus, 1 gallon petrol, rent for a three-bedroomed council house, rates for the same, mortgage on a three-bedroomed post-war semi in London and 1 pair leather school shoes.

Mr. Harold Walker

For a married man with two children under the age of 11 and with gross weekly earnings equal to the average for full-time adult manual men in agriculture, local government service, National Health Service hospitals and motor vehicle manufacture, after deductions for income tax and National Insurance contributions, the approximate figures are as follows:

Estimated† number of minutes work required to pay for items in specified years by
Agricultural worker* Worker in local government service Worker in National Health Service hospital Worker in m vehicle manufacture
Item October 1960 October 1970 July 1978 October 1960 October 1970 October 1978 October 1961* October 1970 October 1978 October 1960 October 1970 October 1978
1 lb. Butter … … … … 50 32 34 43 27 33 34 27 33 26 18 26
1 lb. Bread … … … … 8 9 8 7 8 8 7 8 8 4 5 6
1 lb. Sirloin (boneless) … … … … 83 81 94 72 68 86 62 68 85 44 45 67
1 lb. Fresh cod fillets … … … … 42 38 51 37 32 48 34 33 47 22 22 37
1 lb. Cheddar cheese … … … … 43 33 38 38 28 36 34 28 36 23 19 28
12 Eggs (approximately standard size) … … … … 91 39 24 79 33 21 40 33 21 48 22 16
1 pt. Milk (silver top) … … … … 10 9 7 9 7 6 8 7 6 5 5 5
1 bottle whisky … … … … 580 510 240 500 430 210 490 430 210 300 290 170
1 pt. beer (bottled/canned) … … … … 29 25 22 25 21 20 24 21 20 15 14 16
20 cigarettes (filter tip) … … … … 54 46 31 47 39 28 46 39 28 28 26 22
100 units of electricity … … … … 270 170 180 230 140 160 220 140 160 140 90 130
10 miles (peak return) by train … … … … 64 52 68 55 44 61 50 44 61 34 29 48
2 miles (peak return) by bus‡ … … … … 15 17 23 13 15 21 12 15 21 8 10 16
1 gallon (four star) petrol … … … … 71 58 42 61 48 38 58 49 38 37 32 30
Weekly rent of a three-bedroom council dwelling║ … 300 450 320 260 380 290 240 380 290 160 250 230
Weekly rates of a three-bedroomed council dwelling║ … 140 130 120 120 110 110 110 110 110 70 70 80
Weekly mortgage repayment on a newly-built three-bedroomed semi-detached house (net of tax relief)¶ … 740 720 730 640 540 680 630 540 680 310 350 540
Notes:
* The figures on average weekly earnings and hours used in these calculations relate to full time adult manual men in agriculture, local government service, National Health Service hospitals and motor vehicle manufacture. Except for agriculture, the earnings and hours figures relate to October. For agriculture, information for the periods April 1960 to March 1961, April 1970 to March 1971 and April 1978 to September 1978 has been used. The inquiry in National Health Service hospitals was first conducted in October 1961 and, therefore, figures for October 1961 have been used instead of October 1960.
† 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 in most cases.
‡ The information to hand on average bus fares for the three years requested relates to journeys of two miles using the London Transport system (the average ourney length on London Transport buses).
§ Information on wine and leather school shoes for the whole period has been excluded from the above table since there are no comparable data available. Because the average price of chuck steak throughout the period was not available, the item is replaced by sirloin.
║ The figures for rent and rates are standardised to exclude rent and rate rebates. Workers on average earnings in agriculture and the local government service could be eligible for some measure of rebate.
¶ Mortgage repayment relates to a standard 25 year mortgage to a building society and is made up of the principal and interest in the first year of purchase with tax relief deducted. It should be noted that lower paid workers would not be eligible for full tax relief.