§ Mr. Woofasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what has been the increase in the standard of living on the basis of real disposable income per head, between 1st January 1970 to the latest available quarter:
PERSONAL DISPOSABLE INCOME—SEASONALLY ADJUSTED Total at current prices Per head of total population at 1970 prices £million £ Percentage increase over preceding quarter 1970— First quarter … … … 8,225 152 −0.7 Second quarter … … … 8,628 157 +3.6 Third quarter … … … 8,825 158 +0.7 Fourth quarter … … … 8,944 157 −0.5 1971— First quarter … … … 9,191 158 +0.3 Second quarter … … … 9,470 157 −0.1 Third quarter … … … 9,791 160 +1.8 Fourth quarter … … … 10,039 163 +1.4 1972— First quarter … … … 10,252 163 +0.5 Second quarter … … … 11,002 173 +5.6 Third quarter … … … 11,115 171 −1.0 Fourth quarter … … … 11,701 176 +3.2 1973— First quarter … … … 12,062 178 +0.9 Second quarter … … … 12,592 181 +2.0 Third quarter … … … 12,914 182 +0.4 Fourth quarter … … … 13,300 182 +0.3 1974— First quarter … … … 13,719 180 −1.2 Second quarter … … … 14,201 178 −1.2 Third quarter … … … 15,288 185 +3.6 Fourth quarter … … … 15,993 187 +1.2 1975— First quarter … … … 16,945 189 +1.0 Second quarter … … … 17,873 183 −2.8 Between the first quarter of 1970 and the second quarter of 1975 real personal disposable income per head of population increased by 21.1 per cent. The statistics of personal disposable income are published in "Economic Trends".
§ Mr. Woofasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing the distribution of personal incomes in numbers and amounts, before and after tax, to the latest available date.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonI refer my hon. Friend to Table 28 of "National Income and Expenditure 1964–74" (HMSO 1975) which gives the distribution of income of households from all sources for 1972–73, the latest year for which this information is available.