§ 24. Mr. Shersbyasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the disincentive to married professional women working part-time of the present level of the married women's earned income allowance.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettI am not aware of such a disincentive. The wife's earned income allowance is designed both to be an incentive for married women to work and to recognise the extra expenses that may arise at home when they do. It is open to a married couple, if it is to their financial benefit, to elect for separate taxation of wife's earnings which ensures that an earning wife is taxed, so far as her earnings are concerned, exactly as if she were a single woman.