§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Employment, under current average rates of pay in the United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany, France and Italy, what time would have to be spent to earn the cost of a given quantity of gasoline in each country at current prices.
§ Mr. GoldingThe following table gives the number of minutes' work required to earn, before tax, the cost of one gallon of "four-star" or equivalent grade petrol. It is based on the average gross hourly earnings of men and women in all in- 361W dustries. Comparisons of this type involve considerable uncertainties. They arise in particular from variation in the systems of remuneration and taxation in the different countries.
Number of minutes of work required to earn—before tax—the price of a gallon of "four star" or equivalent grade petrol at October 1977
United Kingdom 30 Federal Republic of Germany 22 France 41 Italy* 55 Note: *Relates to October 1976: the latest date for which earnings figures are available.
Source: Prices: supplied by the Department of Energy Earnings: Hourly Earnings/ Hours of Work, Eurostat 2–1978.