§ Mr. Tebbitasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will show, in present-day terms, the real take-home pay for the average worker since December 1973.
§ Mr. Robert Sheldon,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 13th December 1976; Vol. 922, c. 574], gave the following information:
For a married man on average earnings with two children not over 11 and no other tax allowances, the information is as follows:
Real take-home pay @ August 1976 prices £ per week December 1973 … … … 57.29 December 1974 … … … 59.40 December 1975 … … … 55.02 August 1976 … … … 55.32 Average earnings are the New Earnings Survey estimates of the average earnings of full-time male workers aged 21 and over in all occupations at April of each year, updated to December by the monthly index of average earnings, except for 1976 where the latest available estimate is for August 1976.
786W
Grant per head Increase 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1975–76 1974–75 1976–77 1975–76 £ £ £ per cent. per cent. Avon … … … … … 36.18 50.63 61.50 39.94 21.47 Bedfordshire … … … … … 36.87 51.49 64.22 39.65 24.72 Berkshire … … … … … 42.12 56.24 66.37 33.52 18.01 Buckinghamshire … … … … … 39.15 50.94 62.73 30.11 23.14 Cambridgeshire … … … … … 36.05 48.36 58.37 34.15 20.70 Cheshire … … … … … 36.06 51.83 63.35 43.73 22.23 Cleveland … … … … … 44.66 68.84 88.06 54.14 27.92 Take-home pay is average earnings less tax and national insurance contributions. The calculations take account of tax on the family allowance and "claw-back" although the take-home pay figures do not include family allowance.
It is assumed that the taxpayer was "not contracted out" of the graduated pension scheme in December 1973 and December 1974.
The price index used is the General Index of Retail Prices, all items, for December of each year, except for 1976 where the index relates to August 1976.