§ 41. Mr. Fallonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his latest estimate of the extent of personal share ownership.
§ Mr. MooreA recent survey commissioned by the Office of Population, Censuses and Surveys on behalf of the Treasury and conducted by NOP Market Research Limited indicated that about 14 per cent. of adults (6 million) in Great Britain own shares. The survey was conducted between 12 February and 10 March 1986. Over 7,000 interviews were carried out with adults aged 16 years and above, who were selected according to a systematic probability sample designed to be representative of all adults in Great Britain.
The British Market Research Bureau's regular target group index survey of 24,000 adults aged 16 and over found that, in 1978–79, around 7 per cent. of the adult population owned shares. These surveys suggest, therefore, that the number of shareholders has roughly doubled since 1979.