§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what studies have been made by the Treasury relating to the "why work problem"; and if he will publish the findings of any such studies.
§ Mr. Biffen[pursuant to his reply, 12 December 1980, c. 822]: A contract has been placed with Professor A. B. Atkinson at the London School of Economics to use data from the family expenditure survey to study "taxation, unemployment and incentives". This work will be published in due course.
The Green Paper on the taxation of husband and wife, which was published on 3 December 1980, identifies the impact of work incentives as one of the factors to be taken into account in considering possible changes to the present income tax treatment of husband and wife.
Officials advise Ministers on the impact of policies on incentives, but such advice is confidential, following normal practice.