§ 35. Mr. Home RobertsonTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the trend in regular full-time employment in the farming industry since 1978.
§ Mr. Donald ThompsonBetween June 1978 and June 1988 the number of all those engaged in agriculture on a regular full-time basis in the United Kingdom declined by just under 21 per cent. or nearly 85,000. Within this total the number of full-time workers declined by nearly 31 per cent. (almost 61,000) of whom about 53,300 were hired workers and 7,400 family workers, while the number of full-time farmers, partners and directors fell by some 24,000 or just over 11 per cent.