§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the source of the data on real income by decile group referred to in his answer to the hon. Member for Birkenhead on 3 July,Official Report, columns 5–6; and when he expects to make this data available.
§ Mr. MooreThe methods and assumptions used can be found in "Households below Average Income: A Statistical Analysis 1981–85", a copy of which is in the Library. Full details were provided in my hon. Friend's reply to the hon. Member for Edinburgh, South (Mr. Griffiths) on 15 November 1988 at columns629–30. Details are as follows:
Improvements in living standards Individuals in households Great Britain 1979–85 Decile Percentage Lowest 6 2nd 5 3rd 4 4th 4 5th 4 6th 6 7th 6 8th 9 9th 10 Highest 18 Total 9 Notes:
1. Income is defined as income from all sources less tax and national insurance contributions.
2. The incomes of all individuals within households have been adjusted for the size and composition of those households.
§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will list the money and percentage gains in real income of ech decile group for each year since 1979;
(2) when he expects to provide a substantive reply to the question from the hon. Member for Birkenhead on changes in real income by decile group to which he gave a holding answer on 30 June.
§ Mr. Moore[holding answer 30 June 1989]: The available information, which is adjusted for household size and composition, is as follows. Percentage changes in real equivalised household incomes by deciles of all individuals are set out in table I. It is not meaningful to produce results by decile of the whole population without allowing for the size of composition of households. For further discussion of this point the hon. Gentleman should see Cm 523 "The Measurement of Living Standards For Households Below Average Income". What the figures in table I mean in terms of changes in real income for a single person household is set out in table II.
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Deciles of Individuals In Households GB Table I Percentage Changes In Living Standards (Real Equivalised Household Incomes) Percentage Decile 1979–81 1981–83 1983–85 Lowest -2.2 0.5 7.7 2nd -0.4 1.9 3.5 3rd -1.3 1.6 3.2 4th -1.4 0.9 4.0 5th -1.1 0.4 5.0 6th -0.7 0.5 5.8 7th -0.7 0.6 6.3 8th 0.7 0.1 7.9 9th 2.7 0.5 7.0 Highest 11.5 -1.3 7.4 Total 2.2 0.2 6.2
Table II Money Change In Real Household Incomes For A Single Person Household—1985 Prices By Deciles of the Whole Population £ per week Decile 1979–81 1981–83 1983–85 Lowest -0.70 0.20 2.60 2nd -0.20 0.80 1.60 3rd -0.70 0.90 1.70 4th -0.80 0.60 2.40 5th -0.70 0.30 3.40 6th -0.50 0.40 4.40 7th -0.60 0.50 5.40 8th 0.60 0.10 7.60 9th 3.00 0.50 8.10 Highest 18.00 -2.30 12.90 Total 1.70 0.20 5.00 Notes:
1. Income is defined as income from all sources less income tax and national insurance contributions.
2. The incomes of all individuals within households have been adjusted for the size and composition of those households.
3. The equivalence scales used to adjust for household size and composition use as their basis the income for a single person household. In other words, a single person household has been attributed an equivalence scale of one so that the income of these households is the same both with and without equivalisation.