HC Deb 16 July 1992 vol 211 cc947-9W

(a) income excluding free school meals

Before housing costs:

1979 1981 1987 1988–89
£ £ £ £
Bottom 20 per cent. 95 93 99 100
Bottom 10 per cent. 83 82 87 85

After housing costs:

1979 1981 1987 1988–89
£ £ £ £
Bottom 20 per cent. 80 77 78 80
Bottom 10 per cent. 68 65 67 65

(b) income including free school meals

Before housing costs:

1979 1981 1987 1988–89
£ £ £ £
Bottom 20 per cent. 96 94 100 100
Bottom 10 per cent. 84 83 88 86

After housing costs:

1979 1981 1987 1988–89
£ £ £ £
Bottom 20 per cent. 81 78 80 81
Bottom 10 per cent. 70 67 67 66

(c) other incomes in kind included in the HBAI income measure are:

These are included in the figures provided at (a) and (b) above.

Ms. Corston

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was for each type of household in the family expenditure survey, the average disposable income at 1989 prices, including the value of free and subsidised school meals, of the poorest 10 per cent. and poorest 20 per cent. of households, after taking account of housing costs, for each year 1979 to 1989, inclusive, for each of the principal regions of the United Kingdom.

Mr. Burt

The information can be provided only at disproportionate cost. The information that is available is in the table. HBAI: presents figures in a standard format: only for years 1979, 1981, 1987 and 1988–89—that is, 1988 combined with 1989—before and after housing costs; equivalised for household size and composition; using the median as the average measure for subdivisions of the income distribution; and at April 1992 prices. This is in line with the recommendations made in the stocktaking report produced last year after consultation with independent external analysts.

Due to the small sample sizes figures for the bottom 10 per cent., split by family type cannot be reliably estimated—HBAI presents detailed breakdowns only for the bottom 20 per cent. For similar reasons, regional breakdowns of HBAI are not produced.

Average equivalised income at April 1992 prices for the bottom 20 per cent, by household family type
Before housing costs: 1979 1981 1987 1988–89
£ £ £ £
Pensioner couple 87 91 99 98
Single pensioner 87 92 95 92
Couple with children 101 90 98 100
Couple without children 125 127 118 129
Single with children 85 89 93 93
Single without children 109 107 107 107

After housing costs: 1979 1981 1987 1988–89
£ £ £ £
Pensioner Couple 73 77 83 83
Single pensioner 78 82 83 81
Couple with children 84 73 76 78
Couple without children 107 105 94 105
Single with children 69 72 75 70

Ms. Corston

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the numbers of children of different ages in the poorest 20 per cent. and richest 80 per cent. of households, ranked according to the net disposable income of the households in which they live, before and after equivalisation, for 1979 and for 1989, on the basis of households below average income data drawn from the family expenditure survey.

Mr. Burt

Information for the years 1979 and 1988–89—that is, 1988 combined with 1989—before and after housing costs, and equivalised for household size and composition is in the table. It is not our practice to produce unequivalised information.

Numbers of children of different ages in the bottom 20 per cent. of the income distribution
(In millions)
Before housing costs After housing costs
Ages 1979 1988–89 1979 1988–89
0–4 0.8 1.0 0.8 1.1
5–9 1.0 0.9 1.0 0.9
10–14 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.7
15–18 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3
Total 2.9 3.0 2.9 3.0

Numbers of children of different ages in the top 80 per cent. of the income distribution
(In millions)
Before housing costs After housing costs
Ages 1979 1988–89 1979 1988–89
0–4 3.0 3.0 3.0 2.9
5–9 3.2 2.6 3.3 2.6
10–14 3.2 2.7 3.3 2.7
15–18 1.4 1.3 1.4 1.3
Total 10.9 9.5 10.9 9.5