§ Mr. Newtonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish the sources of the earnings distribution data, giving titles and dates of publications where appropriate, used by his Department to estimate the levels of earnings of women under the age of 60 years married to men in receipt of the national insurance retirement pension.
§ Mr. OrmeNo earnings distribution data relating specifically to the wives of retirement pensioners is available. In view of the level of the earnings rule limit, it was thought appropriate to use the earnings distribution of older females under 60 working full-time.
Table 124 of the Department of Employment's 1975 New Earnings Survey was the latest available earnings distribution for females by age at the time the 331W most recent estimates were made. The October 1976 Department of Employment Gazette gives key results of the 1976 New Earnings Survey, and account was taken of the movement in average earnings between April 1975 and April 1976 for all full-time females, and of the overall movement in earnings since April 1976.