§ Mr. Macleanasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state the number of minutes of work a male manual worker on average earnings needed to complete in 1973 and 1984, respectively, to earn the equivalent in the years in question of the average retail price of the following food items: (a) one pint of milk, (b) one dozen eggs, (c) one pound of beef, (d) one pound of pork, (e) one pound of lamb, (f) one pound of back bacon, (g) three pounds of chicken, (h) one pound of butter, (i) one pound of cheese, (j) one pound of potatoes, (k) two pounds of sugar, (/) one pound of tomatoes and (m) a 800 gramme white loaf.
§ Mr. Peter ReesThe information requested is provided in the following table. The calculations, presented in minutes, are based on the average net hourly income (gross earings less NIC's and income tax) of a full-time manual man (single) on adult rates, excluding those whose pay was affected by absence and draws on information in "New Earnings Surveys". The price data come from information collected for the retail prices index.
Working time (minutes) April of each year 1973 1984 One pint of milk 5.5 5.3 One dozen eggs (large) 32.3 24.3 1 lb of beef (chuck) 53.5 42.3 1 lb of pork (leg) 39.9 26.9 1 lb of lamb (best end of neck, home-killed) 42.1 31.7 1 lb of back bacon (smoked) 50.3 38.3 3 lb of chicken (frozen) 54.4 46.1 1 lb of butter (home-produced) 23.8 22.4 1 lb of cheese (Cheddar type) 31.8 29.3 1 lb of potatoes (old, white, sold loose) 2.4 3.7 2 lb of sugar 19.7 24.0 1 lb of tomatoes 34.4 14.3 800 gramme white loaf (sliced) 10.3 9.7