§ Mr. Bowen Wellsasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish illustrative tables to demonstrate levels of income at 31 January which have the same purchasing power (a) after tax and (b) before tax at selected levels of income for persons in selected circumstances in May 1978.
§ Mr. RidleyThe table shows, for a single person, a married man without children and a married man with two children, levels of gross weekly earnings in January 1983 with the same puchasing power after income tax, national insurance contributions and child benefit—where appropriate—at the selected gross weekly earnings levels shown for May 1978. Changes in purchasing power are measured by reference to movements in the general index of retail prices, which increased by 66.5 per cent. between May 1978 and January 1983. Over the same period, the tax and price index—which measures the average increases in gross income needed to maintain the purchasing power of income after tax and NIC—increased by 72.4 per cent. Between May 1978 and December 1982, the latest date for which information is available, the average earnings index, whole economy, increased by 81.9 per cent.