§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a table showing for each year since 1970 the number of males and females paying national insurance contributions and the amount collected in contributions as a percentage of gross domestic product to one place of decimals together with(a) the number earning more than the upper earnings limit, the amount earned by such males and females, and their aggregate incomes as a percentage of the amount by those paying national insurance and (b) the amount earned above the upper earnings limit as a proportion of the amount earned below it.
650W
§ Mr. Jack[holding answer 19 February 1992]: The information requested is in the tables:
Numbers of people1 paying contributions (thousands) Amount collected in contributions as a percentage of GDP2 Males Females 1970–71 — — 4.6 1971–72 — — 4.6 1972–73 — — 4.7 1973–74 — — 5.0 1974–75 — — 5.3 1975–76 15,829 9,265 5.7 1976–77 15,722 9,189 6.2 1977–78 15,714 9,273 6.0 1978–79 15,654 9,279 5.5 1979–80 15,775 9,533 5.6 1980–81 15,256 9,148 6.2 1981–82 14,478 8,793 6.4 1982–83 14,166 8,664 6.8 1983–84 14,315 8,692 7.0 1984–85 14,243 8,860 6.7 1985–86 14,364 9,170 6.7 1986–87 14,369 9,308 6.5 1987–88 14,465 9,633 6.4 1988–89 14,670 10,096 6.5 1 Source: 1 per cent. sample from Contributors and Contributions Statistics. Although some people pay a mixture of different types of contributions, each person is counted only once in the table. No figures are readily available for years prior to 1975 and are not yet available from 1989–90. 2 All GDP data used are consistent with the Regional Accounts article published in Economic Trends November 1991. The contributions figures used in the calculations are the gross receipts for the NI fund which are set out in the NI fund accounts for each year.
(a) It is estimated that in 1991–92 on average 2.6 million men and 0.4 million women earn more than the upper earnings limit. Their earnings are estimated to be: £ billion Men Women Total 80 10 90 Their total earnings are expected to be about 34 per cent. of the earnings of all those who pay national insurance.
(b) It is estimated that the amount of all earnings above the upper earnings limit is about 11.5 per cent. of all the earnings below that limit.
Information for earlier years is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.