§ Mr. Andrew F. Bennettasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what he estimates the value of the social wage is to a family of two adults and two children under 11 years with an income close to the national average for the most recent date for which figures are available; and by how much that social wage would be reduced if public expenditure were cut by £1,000 million or £2,000 million.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonThe social wage amounted to about £1,275 per member of the working population in 1975–76 Estimates of the value of the social wage226W to various types of household at different income levels are not available. I would, however, refer my hon. Friend to the detailed estimates made by the Central Statistical Office of the effects of selected benefits on household incomes in 1974, the latest year for which figures are available, published in Economic Trends, February 1976. The effect of a cut in total public expenditure of a given size on the social wage depends on how the cost is distributed among expenditure programmes.