§ Mr. Cormackasked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the average industrial wage in 1950, 1955, 1960, 1965, 1970, 1975 and 1979, respectively; what was the average price of a new three-bedroomed semi-detached house in (a) London and (b) the West Midlands in the same years; and what proportion of his income a married man with two children under 16 years and an 80 per cent. mortgage paid in tax and national insurance contribution in the same years.
§ Mr. Jim Lester[pursuant to his reply, 17 March 1980, c. 23]: Average weekly earnings of full-time manual men in the industries covered by Department of Employment surveys (October each year) were as follows:
£ 1950 7.52 1955 11.15 1960 14.53 1965 19.59 1970 28.05 1975 59.58 1979 96.94 The available information on house prices relates to average prices of new dwellings of all kinds. It is not readily available on a comparable basis before 1970. Figures since 1970, based on a 5 per cent. sample of building society mortgages, are as follows:
386W
London 1970 7,694 1975 18,676 1979 27,913 West Midlands 1970 4,624 1975 11,533 1979 20,724 A married man with two children under 11 years of age, with the national average income and an 80 per cent. first year mortgage on a new house of average price, would have paid the following percentage of his income in tax and national insurance contributions.
Tax 1970–1 7.5 1975–6 10.8 1979–80 8.2 National Insurance 1970–1 5.3 1975–6 5.4 1979–80 6.1