§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 28 June,Official Report, columns 353–56, on the value of benefits, if he will publish the corrected figures for the benefits in relation to earnings, including the period November 1979 to April 1990.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardI regret the error in the earlier reply. This arose from the use of the incorrect category of 311W workers for the gross earnings figures. The corrected figures are in the table. It is not possible to provide the ratio of benefits to gross earnings for April 1990 because the 1990 new earnings survey is not yet available. The corrections also apply to the answer given to the hon. Member on 20 December 1989 at columns 300–02.
Ratio of benefit to gross earnings November 1978 Per cent. November 1979 Per cent. April 1989 Per cent. Retirement pension Single person 23.4 23.3 18.2 Married couple 37.4 37.3 29.1 Unemployment benefit Single person 18.9 18.5 14.5 Married couple 30.6 29.9 23.4 Sickness benefit Single person 18.9 18.5 13.9 Married couple 30.6 29.9 22.4 Industrial disablement benefit 38.3 38.0 29.7 Industrial death benefit 24.1 23.8 18.2 Maternity allowance Single person 18.9 18.5 13.9 Married couple 30.6 29.9 22.4 Non-contributory retirement pension Single person 14.0 14.0 10.9 Married couple 22.5 22.4 17.5 War disablement pension 38.3 38.0 29.7 War widows pension 30.7 30.4 23.7 Attendance allowance Higher rate 18.7 18.6 14.6 Lower rate 12.5 12.4 9.7 Invalid care allowance Single person 14.0 14.0 10.9 Married couple 22.5 22.4 17.5 Severe disablement allowance Single person 14.0 14.0 10.9 Married couple 22.5 22.4 17.5 Mobility allowance 12.0 12.0 10.2 Child benefit 3.6 4.0 3.0 One-parent benefit 2.4 2.5 2.2 Note: Gross earnings means average gross weekly earnings, all full-time workers on adult rates in all industries and services excluding those whose pay was affected by absence (source: new earnings survey). Figures for November use an estimate of average earnings interpolated by the seasonally adjusted monthly index of average earnings, all employees in industries and services published in the Employment Gazette.