§ Mrs. BallardTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of women of child-bearing age in the United Kingdom who earn more than(a) £100,000 and (b) £1 million annually. [23792]
§ Mrs. LiddellThe 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 Mrs. Jackie Ballard, dated 21 January 1998:
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply, as the Director of the Office for National Statistics, to your recent question on number of child-bearing age women by annual earnings.For the purposes of this response, I have taken child-bearing age as 15–44 years. The number of women in this range earning more than £100,000 per annum is too small to allow a precise estimate from statistical sources. The New Earnings Survey for April 1997 collects information on female employees and these data suggest that the number is unlikely to exceed 1500, and is likely to be much less. I cannot be more precise. Also, I cannot provide an estimate for the self-employed, nor for earnings in excess of £1 million per annum.