§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report the figures for wage rates in manufacturing industry in relation to cost of living figures for both the United Kingdom and Japan.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonUp-to-date estimates of the relative purchasing power of wages in the United Kingdom and Japan are not available.
Average gross weekly earnings of employees in manufacturing in the United Kingdom in 1979 were £94. In Japan they were 52,558 yen, or £113 when converted at the average market exchange rate for 1979. The relative purchasing power of the yen and sterling was assessed in 1973 in a study for the United Nations and the World Bank and on the basis of this, together with information on subsequent movements in prices, Japanese earnings would be very approximately equivalent to £100.
Caution is required in interpreting these figures owing to the inherent difficulties of assessing the relative internal purchasing power of national currencies. There are also differences between the two countries in coverage, definitions and methods of compilation of the statistics.
In addition, the comparison is based on gross earnings and does not take account of differences in taxation and social benefits.