§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his estimate of the loss in national insurance contributions from the unemployment sustained through 1979 and in the first six months of this year, respectively.
§ Mrs. ChalkerNo realistic estimate can be made since the national insurance contributions payable by the unemployed if they were in work would depend on the amount of their earnings. On the assumptions used by the Government Actuary in his report on the draft of the social securitv benefits uprating order 1980 (Cmnd. 7971), a variation of 100,000 in the unemployed would affect 441W income from national insurance contributions, all elements including the employer's surcharge, by about £120 million.