§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many and what percentage of employees had total earnings below the lower earnings limit for national insurance contributions; and what proportion of these were part-time workers, in (i) 1970, (ii) 1980, (iii) 1990 and (iv) the most recent available year; [21060]
(2) if he will update the information in the answer to the hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Smith) of 17 July 1996, Official Report, column 526, estimating the average hourly earnings of part-time workers working fewer than 16 hours a week; and if he will provide figures for those working fewer than eight hours a week; [21071]
(3) if he will update the information in the answer to the hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Smith) of 2 July 1996, Official Report, column 418, estimating the average weekly hours of work of men and women with total earnings below the lower earnings limit for national insurance contributions; [21069]
(4) if he will update the information in the answer to the hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury (Mr. Smith) of 17 July 1996, Official Report, column 526, estimating the average hourly earnings of men and women with total earnings below the lower earnings limit for national insurance contributions. [21072]
§ Mrs. Angela KnightThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Gerry Steinberg, dated 20 March 1997:
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics to your recent questions (21060, 21069, 21071, 21072) on employees earning under the national insurance lower earnings limit.793WThe latest figures available are from the Summer 1996 (June-August) Labour Force Survey.In summer 1996, 2.73 million or 12.3 percent. of employees had total earnings below the national insurance lower earnings limit in Great Britain; 93.4 per cent. of these were part-time. Labour Force Survey data on earnings for 1970, 1980 and 1990 is not available.Average hourly earnings of female part-time workers working less than 16 hours a week were £6.20 per hour. Average hourly earnings of female part-time workers working less than 8 hours a week were £5.78 per hour. Due to small sample sizes no figures are available for male part-time workers.The average weekly hours of work for men with earnings below the national insurance lower earnings limit were 18.3 hours in 1996. This compares with an average of 12.1 hours for women.Average hourly earnings of men with total earnings below the national insurance lower earnings limit were £2.17 in 1996. This is lower than the average for women which was £3.37.