HC Deb 14 February 1996 vol 271 cc569-70W
Mr. Meacher

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will list the number and proportion of manual, non-manual and all full-time employees earning less than(a) £161.60, (b) £215.47 and (c) £288.68 per week excluding overtime payments for (i) men, (ii) women and (iii) both sexes for (1) England and (2) Great Britain in April 1995; [14346]

(2) if he will list the number and proportion of manual, non-manual and all part-time employees earning less than (a) £4.26 per hour, (b) £5.69 per hour and (c) £6.03 per hour excluding overtime payments for (i) men, (ii) women and (iii) both sexes for (1) England and (2) Great Britain in April 1995. [14347]

Mrs. Angela Knight

[holding answer 13 February 1996]: Available information from the "New Earnings Survey 1995" is provided in the following table.

New earnings survey—April 1995 (GB) Full time employees on adult rates, whose pay for the survey period was unaffected by absence Average gross pay (excluding overtime)
Weekly Hourly
Percentage earning less than: £161.60 £215.47 £228.68 £4.26 £5.69 £6.03
MALES
Manual
England 12.8 39.9 46.9 16.5 44.8 51.7
Great Britain 13.0 40.4 47.5 16.8 45.2 52.1
Non-manual
England 4.7 13.6 16.0 5.2 14.5 17.2
Great Britain 4.8 13.9 16.3 5.3 14.6 17.4
FEMALES
Manual
England 48.9 79.7 84.2 50.1 80.7 85.3
Great Britain 48.8 79.6 84.3 50.1 80.8 85.3
Non-manual
England 12.5 35.6 40.6 11.4 32.5 38.0
Great Britain 12.9 36.7 41.8 11.7 33.4 39.0
ALL
Manual
England 19.5 47.3 53.8 22.7 51.4 57.9
Great Britain 19.8 47.8 54.5 23.1 51.8 58.3
Non-manual
England 8.3 23.7 27.3 8.0 22.8 26.8
Great Britain 8.6 24.4 28.1 8.3 23.3 27.4

Mr. Meacher

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of the United Kingdom work force would be covered by a minimum wage set at(a) £3.50 per hour and (b) £4.15 per hour. [14971]

Mrs. Knight

[holding answer 13 February 1996]: Information from the April 1995 "New Earnings Survey" shows that 9.1 per cent. of employees in Great Britain would be covered by a minimum wage set at £3.50 per hour and 18.9 per cent. would be covered by a minimum wage set at £4.15 per hour.