§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will tabulate the total net weekly income of a man with a wife and two children under 11 years of age, assuming a weekly wage 191W of £15, £20, £25, £30 and £35, respectively, and that the previous year's pay was at the same rates, allowing for relevant tax repayments and any welfare benefits in the following circumstances, for a week's work after 39 weeks at the appropriate rate and when unemployed after 39 weeks' employment and when qualifying for earnings-related supplement; and if he will state how many weeks of the year the take-home pay when out of work could exceed the take-home pay when at work.
§ Mr. NottThe figures are:
Weekly wage A B Number of weeks when "take.home pay" out of work could exceed "take.home pay" at work £ £ £ 15 14.72 15.10 FIS 3.10 3.10 17.82 18.20 25 weeks 20 19.47 18.75 FIS 0.60 0.60 20.07 19.35 Nil 25 22.89 26.90 7 weeks 30 26.15 28.30 14 weeks 35 29.36 28.30 Nil Notes:
Column A shows the man's net weekly income when at work for week 40 of the tax year.
Column B shows his total income from unemployment benefit (including Earnings Related Supplement) and where appropriate tax refunds for week 42, on the assumption that that is his third consecutive week of unemployment. The figures take account of the family allowances and the National Insurance (including graduated pension) contributions but they do not include any supplementary benefit that might be receivable during unemployment.
Family Income supplement (FIS) payments are shown separately. They appear under column B as well as column A because a man who becomes entitled to FIS will receive it for the period of the award regardless of whether he becomes unemployed during that period.
192W
CORPORATE PROFITS* AS A PERCENTAGE OF (a) GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT AT FACTOR COST AND (b) NET NATIONAL INCOME 1963 1964 1971 (a) (b) (a) (b) (a) (b) United Kingdom† … … 11.9 12.9 12.1 13.1 6.6 7.3 United States of America … … 10.6 11.7 11.1 12.2 7.7 8.5 Japan‡. … … 110 12.5 10.9 12.9 13.8§ 16.1§ * After deducting stock appreciation and capital consumption. † Including public corporations. ‡Income of private corporations only. § Figure relates to 1970.
§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he is aware that a man with a wife and two children under 11 years of age, whose weekly wage is £25.00 per week, has £4.01 more spending power in the first weeks of unemployment or sickness than when at work; and if he will take steps to rectify this situation prior to the introduction of a tax credit system, in view of the fact that this system could only come into operation in four or five years time, at the earliest.
§ Mr. NottI am aware of this anomaly, which can arise only for limited ranges of income and then only for limited periods.
On the second question, my right hon. Friend has noted the suggestion.