§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will now publish the latest figures available for a married man with two children earning average male annual 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: 1 lb beef sirloin, 1 lb fresh cod fillets, an 800g sliced loaf, one pint of fresh milk, 1 lb pork, 1 lb back bacon, 1 lb sugar, 1 lb butter, one dozen eggs and 14 lbs potatoes; and if he will provide comparable figures for 1970, 1980 and 1983.
§ Mr. Peter ReesThe information is in the table. The calculations, presented in minutes, are based on average male—over 21—weekly earnings in all occupations and all industries and services, excluding those whose pay was affected by absence, in April of each year—taken from The New Earnings Survey. For the tax computations, it has been assumed that the two children are under the age of 11. The man is taken to be not-contracted-out for national insurance contributions purposes while the income tax figure assumes no allowances other than personal allowance and child tax allowances. Account has also been taken of family allowance and, in later years, child benefit in order to permit valid comparisons. The figures for average hours worked are also drawn from The New Earnings Survey results. The price data come from information collected for the RPI.
Working Time (minutes) April of each year 1970 1980 1983 1984 1 lb beef sirloin 47.5 55.8 52.2 51.0 1 lb fresh cod (fillets) 23.0 27.9 23.9 23.5 800g sliced loaf (wrapped) 9.9 8.4 7.2 6.8 1 pint fresh milk 5.0 4.3 4.0 3.7 1 lb pork loin (with bone) 36.1 28.7 23.0 23.5 1 lb back bacon (smoked) 36.2 31.1 27.4 27.0 1 lb sugar 4.1 4.0 4.0 3.8 1 lb butter 18.4 19.5 17.2 15.8 1 dozen eggs (size 4) na* 16.8 12.5 15.5 14 lb potatoes 44.1 25.0 19.8 36.8 * Eggs were graded in a different manner in 1970.