§ 60. Mr. Osborneasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of the 22,350,000 persons engaged in civilian employment are paid by piecework, or at an hourly rate, and upon whose extra efforts the additional £250,000,000 industrial production must come, and who can reasonably expect to benefit from the taxation incentives of the Budget.
§ Mr. R. A. ButlerOf the 9¼ million manual wage earners in industries covered by the earnings inquiry conducted by the Ministry of Labour in October, 1951, some 32 per cent. or over 3 million, were on piece rates or other payment by results schemes. Workers in some other industries are paid on piece rates. My hon. Friend will appreciate that the taxation incentives of the Budget apply to all wage earners and not only to those paid by results.
No estimate is available of the number of wage earners paid at hourly rates, but payment at weekly rates is not a bar to overtime.