§ Mr. FieldTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many employees working in companies employing fewer than five people have earnings between(a) the lower earnings limit and £5,000, (b) £5,001 and £7,000, (c) £7,001 and £8,000, (d) £8,001 and £9,000, (e) £9,001 and £9,500, (f) £9,501 and £10,000, (g) £10,001 and £12,000, (h) f12,001 and £14,000, (i) £14,001 and £16,000, (j) £16,001 and £18,000 and (k) £18,001 to £18,500 for each of the past five years. [106709]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Frank Field, dated 27 January 2000:
As Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your parliamentary question regarding the number of people working in companies which employ fewer than 5 people, and receive earnings in various earnings bands above the lower earnings limit.268WThe New Earnings Survey (NES), carried out in April of each year, is a one per cent. sample of all employees who are members of pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) schemes. However, I am only able to provide estimates of the percentage of employees whose earnings lie within specified ranges, rather than numbers, because appropriate factors to gross the survey results to accommodate this sample frame are not currently available. Additionally, I am unable to provide data for years prior to 1998 since estimates of annual earnings and enterprise size are not available.The available information, from the 1998 and 1999 New Earnings Surveys, is attached.I will arrange for a copy of this letter to be placed in the House of Commons Library.New Earnings Survey, April of each year (GB)
Employees on adult rates, who have been in the same job for at least 12 months 1. Companies employing between 1 and 4 employees.
Percentage of employees with gross annual earnings in the range 1999 Full-time employees Part-time employees All employees £3,4322-£5,000 1.6 18.7 6.1 £5,001-£7,000 5.8 18.4 9.1 £7,001-£8,000 4.7 6.8 5.2 £8,001-£9,000 5.6 4.2 5.2 £9,001-£9,500 2.5 1.7 2.3 £9,501-£10,000 3.3 1.5 2.9 £10,001-£12,000 14.4 3.5 11.5 £12,001-£14,000 10.7 2.0 8.4 £14,001-£16,000 10.9 1.5 8.4 £16,001-£18,000 8.7 1.0 6.6 £18,001-£18,500 1.6 0.1 1.2
Percentage of employees with gross annual earnings in the range 1998 Full-time employees Part-time employees All employees £3,3282-£5,000 1.9 21.3 7.0 £5,001-£7,000 7.5 17.9 10.2 £7,001-£8,000 5.2 7.1 5.7 £8,001-£9,000 6.6 3.2 5.7 £9,001-£9,500 2.8 1.7 2.5 £9,501-£10,000 3.9 1.2 3.2 £10,001-£12,000 14.6 2.8 11.5 £12,001-£14,000 11.0 2.6 8.8 £14,001-£16,000 9.9 1.5 7.7 £16,001-£18,000 7.3 1.0 5.6 £18,001-£18,500 1.5 0.0 1.1 1 Annual earnings have been calculated only for those employees that have been in the same job for at least 12 months. Employees with less than 12 months attachment may have relevant annual earnings from another employer but these would not be identified in the NES. Consequently, taking annual earnings for all employees would give a misleading (under) estimate. 2 The lower earnings limit was £3,328 in April and £3,432 in April 1999.