§ Mr. Fieldasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is his analysis of the reasons why the number of families with incomes below 140 per cent. of supplementary benefit level when the head of the household was in full-time work fell from 1,520,000 in 1976 to 600,000 in 1979.
§ Mr. Newton[pursuant to his reply, 17 May 1982, c. 45–6]: About one third of the difference may be due to the change in the method of analysing the survey data, which is explained in the notes in "Low Income Families—1979". The 1976 figure represents a seasonal peak, whereas the 1979 figure is an average over the whole year. Most of the remaining difference can probably be attributed to net incomes in work rising faster than supplementary benefits.