§ Lord Diamondasked Her Majesty's Government:
What was the net effect on the inequality of incomes (as measured by Gini Co-efficient) of each set of Budget and mini-Budget proposals introduced by them since their election in 1979.
§ The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Lord Cockfield)I regret that it is not possible to isolate the effect of individual Budgets on the distribution of personal incomes. However, estimates produced by the Central Statistical Office for the distribution of households' disposable income less all indirect taxes from 1978 to 1982 (the latest year for which information is available) are as follows:1096WA
Gini co-efficient(1): distribution of households' disposable income less all indirect taxes per cent. 1978 33.5 1979 34.6 1980 35.7 1981 35.6 1982 36.3 Source: CSO estimates based on Family Expenditure Survey. (1) No adjustment has been made for year-to-year variation in the composition of the Family Expenditure Survey sample; but any adjustment is likely to be small.