§ Mr. Onslowasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the estimated average increase in earnings from 1964 to date of a married man with two children under 11 years of age, who was earning £1,000 per annum in the base year, is more or less than 33 per cent.
§ Mr. Taverne:It is not possible to estimate increases for any particular level of earnings in 1964; but the estimated average increase in earnings of all employees from 1964 to January, 1970, the latest month for which a figure is available, was about 43 per cent.
§ Mr. Onslowasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the average industrial wage in October, 1964; what it is now; and what change in real net income this represents in the case of a married man with one child under 11 years of age.
§ Mr. Taverne:The average weekly earnings of adult male manual workers in manufacturing industries were £18 13s. 4d. in October, 1964 and £25 10s. 10d. in October, 1969 (the latest month for which the figure for such workers is available). Between these two dates, the net income of a married man with one child under 11 is estimated to have risen by 3.2 per cent. in real terms.
§ Mr. Emeryasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much a single man, and a married man with one, two or three children under 11 years of age, 543W needed to earn in April, 1970 to offset the increase in the cost of living compared with men in similar circumstances earning, respectively, £500, £800, £1,000, £1,500, £2,000 and £3,000 a year in 1964, taking into account changes in the internal purchasing power of the pound sterling, income tax, surtax and family allowances.
§ Mr. Taverne:The estimates are as follows:
The tax rates and allowances and the family allowances taken into account are those for 1964–65 for 1964 and those for 1970–71 for April, 1970. The purchasing power of the £ was estimated by reference to the consumer price indexes for the whole of 1964 and for April, 1970.
Earnings April, 1970 Earnings 1964 Single person Married man, one child Married man, two children Married man, three children £ £ £ £ £ 500 678 646 626 608 800 1,099 1,095 1,094 1,072 1,000 1,365 1,383 1,392 1,399 1,500 2,030 2,048 2,070 2,093 2,000 2,695 2,713 2,734 2,757 3,000 4,026 4,045 4,072 4,100
§ Mr. Emeryasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state the yield of income tax on personal incomes as a percentage of gross national product in 1951, 1964, 1968, and whatever portion of 1969 for which figures are available; and if he will state the amount which the change in this percentage between 1964 and 1969 represents out of the 1969 gross national product at current prices and at an annual rate.
§ Mr. Taverne:Taxes on income paid by the personal sector amounted to 9.0 per cent. of gross national product at factor cost in 1951, 9.5 per cent. in 1964, 12.6 per cent. in 1968 and 13.4 per cent. in 1969. Had this percentage been the same in 1969 as it was in 1964, the tax payments would have been about £1,490 million lower, equivalent to 3.9 per cent. of the gross national product at factor cost in 1969.