§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many(a) men and (b) women were in work with earnings below the relevant lower earnings limit in each year since 1979. [142079]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson[holding answer 11 December 2000]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell to Mr. Frank Field, dated 9 January 2001:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question about men and women earning below the National Insurance lower earnings limits (LEL) since 1979 (142079). I am replying in his absenceThe information is available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), the Office for National Statistics' (ONS) major source of labour market data on individuals. The number of employees earning below the National Insurance LEL are given in the attached table.The LFS provides a better source of weekly pay than another major source of earnings data, the New Earnings Survey (NES), and is therefore the most appropriate source of data to answer this question. However LES earnings information is only available from the winter (December to February) 1992/3 quarter onwards. The table gives data for summer (June to August) quarters from 1993 to 2000. The data are for Great Britain and are not seasonally adjusted.
Employees with gross weekly earnings in their main job below the National Insurance lower earnings limit1 Employees with gross weekly earnings below the National Insurance lower earnings limit: Summer Weekly limit (£) Thousand Men 1993 56 396 1994 57 423 1995 58 468 1996 61 581 1997 62 563 1998 64 504 1999 66 582 2000 67 502 Women 1993 56 1,940 1994 57 1,850 1995 58 1,807 1996 61 2,081 1997 62 1,894 1998 64 1,802 1999 66 1,763 2000 67 1,662 1 Great Britain, summer quarters 1993 to 2000, not seasonally adjusted Source:
Labour Force Survey, National Statistics