§ Mr. Ripponasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what pre-tax and post-tax income would now be required to provide the same standard of living as that enjoyed in 1974 by a married man with three children under 11 years of age and 226W a £6,000 mortgage on a gross income of £3,500 a year.
§ Mr. Robert Sheldon, pursuant to the reply [Official Report, 8 March; Vol. 963, c. 775], gave the following information:
Respectively, £6,595 pre-tax and £5,290 post-tax, assuming the £3,500 was received in 1974–75.
These figures exclude the value of family allowance and child benefit, though these are taken into account in estimating the"standard of living ", which is taken to be earnings less tax and national insurance contributions plus family allowance or child benefit, all at constant prices.
It has been assumed that the man had a new mortgage of £6,000 in 1974–75 and 1978–79 and that he was not contracted out of the graduated or earnings-related pension schemes.
Changes in real net income have been estimated by reference to the movement in the general index of retail prices, all items, between 1974–75 and January 1979.