HL Deb 11 January 1994 vol 551 cc23-4WA
Lord Stoddart of Swindon

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How much a married couple with two children, where only one spouse is in employment and earns the national average weekly income, gains or loses in net terms as a result of measures contained in the two 1993 Budgets.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Employment (Lord Henley)

A one-earner married couple with two children on average earnings might pay about £7.15 a week more in taxes and national insurance by the time of the next Budget than if 1993–94 tax rates and allowances had been maintained. This assumes that the couple have no income other than earnings; no tax reliefs other than the personal and married couple's allowances; and a spending pattern broadly in line with the average for families of this type.