HC Deb 18 June 1980 vol 986 cc538-9W
Mr. Ralph Howell

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish figures for 1950, 1960, 1970, 1978, and the latest available date, for a married man with two children earning average male manual earnings, showing the length of time, after taking into account family allowance or child benefit, income tax and national insurance contribution, necessary to pay for each of the following items : weekly rent of a three-bedroomed council dwelling, mortgage repayments on a newly-built three-bedroomed semidetached house, 3 lb. of beef sirloin, 21b. of fresh cod, 141bs of potatoes, a large loaf, ½ lb. of tea, 1 quart of fresh milk, 5 cwt. of coal, high quality, 5 gallons of petrol, 10 gallons of heating oil, 100 kws electricity, 100 therms of domestic gas, one monthly season ticket from Sur-biton to London, one monthly season ticket from South Kensington to Bank, postage on five letters, a call by telephone for 10 minutes off-peak London to Glasgow, 20 cigarettes, 1 pint of beer and 1 bottle of whisky.

Mr. Biffen

Information on the weekly rent of a three-bedroomed council dwelling, mortgage repayments on a newly built three-bedroomed semidetached house, the price of five gallons of petrol, the price of a one monthly season ticket from Surbiton to London, a monthly season ticket from South Kensington to Bank, the cost of postage on five letters, the cost of a 10-minute

MINUTES TO BE WORKED TO EARN SUFFICIENT INCOME TO BUY ARTICLE
Items 1950 1960 1970 1978 1979
3 pounds of home killed first quality beef sirloin (without bone) 137 187 178 223 225
2 pounds of fresh cod 64 53 56 83 78
14 pounds of potatoes 38 37 31 25 33
1 large loaf 10 11 12 12 11
½pound of tea 35 38 22 20 17
1 quart of fresh milk 18 15 13 11 11
5 hundredweights of high quality coal 491 506 528 593 598
10 gallons of heating oil 240 169 202 255
100 kilowatts of electricity 201 123 143 136
100 therms of domestic gas 270 145 87 77
20 cigarettes 47 34 25 24
1 pint of beer (bottled or canned) 21 19 17 17