§ 64. Colonel Beamishasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance, the total amount to be paid by an employed man towards the cost of the National Insurance stamp as originally fixed in the National Insurance Act and the proportion of average earnings in industry it represented in October, 1946; and if he will give corresponding figures for October, 1951, and February, 1958, at current and proposed rates.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterThe amount of the worker's contribution originally fixed in the National Insurance Act was 4s. 11d. and the corresponding amounts in October, 1951, and in February, 1958, were 5s. ld. and 9s. 5d. The proposed increase for the National Health Service will bring the latter figure up to 9s. 11d. The proportion these amounts bore to average earnings at the relevant dates were respectively 4.1 per cent., 3.1 per cent., 3.8 per cent. and 3.9 per cent.