§ Mr. Peter Lloydasked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the ratio of juvenile to adult, men and women, weekly earnings in manual occupations at 1945 and in each subsequent year thereafter; and what were the effects of the changes in the school leaving ages in 1947 and 1973.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonThe following table sets out the available information in respect of the relative earnings of males aged under 21 and females aged under 18.
The effect of raising the school leaving age in 1947 cannot be estimated precisely, but is thought to account for most of the increase in the percentages shown in the table between 1947 and 1948. The increase in the school leaving age in 1973 is estimated to have increased the relative earnings of males aged under 21 and females aged under 18 by four to six percentage points.
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Average gross weekly earnings of full-time "juvenile" employees (males aged under 21, females aged under 18) as a percentage of the corresponding figures for other employees Males Females Manual workers inquiry* New Earnings Survey‡ Manual workers inquiry* New Earnings Survey‡ 1945 July 38 — †56 — 1946 October 39 — 59 — 1947 October 40 — 63 — 1948 October 43 — 67 — 1949 October 42 — 66 — 1950 October 42 — 65 — 1951 October 42 — 64 — 1952 October 42 — 63 — 1953 October 42 — 63 — 1954 October 42 — 64 — 1955 October 42 — 66 — 1956 October 43 — 66 — 1957 October 43 — 66 —
Males Females Manual workers inquiry* New Earnings Survey‡ Manual workers inquiry* New Earnings Survey‡ 1958 October 44 — 65 — 1959 October 43 — 64 — 1960 October 45 — 65 — 1961 October 45 — 66 — 1962 October 45 — 65 — 1963 October 44 — 65 — 1964 October 45 — 67 — 1965 October 46 — 67 — 1966 October 47 — 67 — 1967 October 47 — 66 — 1968 October 47 — 67 — 1969 October 47 — 67 — 1970 October 48 — 67 — 1971 October 48 — 65 — 1972 October 49 — 64 — 1973 October 51 — 72 — 1974 April — 53 — 72 October 53 — 71 — 1975 April — 55 — 75 October 56 — 67 — 1976 April — 54 — 69 October 57 — 66 — 1977 April — 55 — 68 October 57 — 67 — 1978 April — 55 — 68 October 56 — 66 — 1979 April — 54 — 70 October **56 — 67 — 1980 April — 54 — 68 1981 April — 53 — 66 Notes:
* Including employees whose pay was affected by absence. The figures cover production industries (except coal-mining), transport and communications (except railways), public administration and certain miscellaneous services, i.e. about 80 per cent. of all manual employment.
† Including part-time employees.
‡ Excluding employees whose pay was affected by absence. The survey classifies employees according to their age in the January preceding the survey date in April. All sectors of industry are covered.
** Figures are not given later than October 1979, as from October 1980 onwards the survey distinguished employees not by age but by whether employees were paid on adult rates or not.