HC Deb 19 July 1995 vol 263 cc1581-2W
Mr. McAllion

To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what were the number of workers in(a) Scotland and (b) the United Kingdom earning less than two-thirds of median male earnings in each years since 1979. [35224]

(2) what were the numbers of workers earning less than 68 per cent. of full-time average earnings in each year since 1979. [35225]

Mrs. Angela Knight

I have been asked to reply.

The information requested cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.

Some relevant information is available in the reports of the New Earnings Survey, copies of which are in the Library.

Table 16 of part A of the reports contain median and average gross hourly earnings of full-time adults. The 1989 report has data for 1979 to 1989 and the 1994 report has data for 1990 to 1994.

Table 17 contains similar information on gross weekly earnings. The 1993 report contains data for 1983 to 1993 and the 1994 report contains data for 1984 to 1994. The available information for the years between 1979 and 1983 is for full-time men aged 21 and over and full-time women aged 18 and over. The information for 1983 to 1979 is in table 30 of the 1988 report.

Distributions of gross hourly earnings for categories of employee are in table 20, for the years 1979 to 1981 and 1989 to 1994, and in table 35 for the years 1982 to 1988.