§ Mr. WelshTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of those in employment currently earn less than(a) £4.20, and (b) 4.50; and how many of those aged 18 to 21 years currently earn less than (i) £4.20, (ii) £4.50 and (iii) £3.70 in (1) Scotland and (2) the UK. [128172]
§ Miss Melanie Johnson[holding answer 4 July 2000]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Andrew Welsh, dated 28 July 2000
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question about earnings of employees in Scotland and the United Kingdom. (128172)The New Earnings Survey (NES) can provide earnings data for geographical areas. These are released for all areas where there is a sufficiently large sample of employees and the statistics have an acceptable level of accuracy. I have provided the available data for 1013W Scotland and the United Kingdom in the attached table. These are based on the 1999 NES, the latest survey for which data are available.From the NES I am only able to give percentages earning below specified thresholds, rather than numbers because appropriate grossing factors for the survey sample are not readily available.The NES is based on a one per cent sample of employees in the PAYE system and is therefore likely to under-represent relatively low paid staff earning below the tax threshold and in particular those who work part-time.
New Earnings Survey, April 1999 (UK) Gross hourly earnings excluding overtime (£) All ages Age 18 to 21 years Percentage earning less than Percentage earning less than £4.20 £4.50 £3.70 £4.20 £4.50 Scotland Full-time 6.7 9.5 13.4 29.0 38.6 Part-time 28.8 37.1 25.4 47.8 55.7 All 11.8 15.9 17.5 35.4 44.4 United Kingdom Full-time 6.0 8.6 15.1 29.7 38.8 Part-time 27.3 36.2 24.1 46.2 59.4 All 10.8 14.8 17.9 34.7 45.1 Note:
Employees on all rates of pay, whose pay for the survey period was unaffected by absence.