HC Deb 30 November 2000 vol 357 cc941-2W
Mr. Wigley

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent estimate is of the average weekly gross wage of(a) men and (b) women in the financial services sector. [139154]

Miss Melanie Johnson

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply.

Letter from John Pullinger to Mr. Dafydd Wigley, dated 30 November 2000:

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question about the average gross weekly earnings of men and women in the financial services sector (139154). I am replying in his absence.

The New Earnings Survey (NES) provides earnings data for different industry sectors based on the 1992 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC92). Estimates for full-time employees are published for all industry sectors when there is a sufficiently large sample of employees and the statistics have an acceptable level of accuracy. I have provided data for the SIC92 'financial intermediation' industry sector in the attached table including previously unpublished estimates for part-time employees and for all males and all females. The figures are for Great Britain and are based on the 2000 NES, the latest survey for which data are available.

The NES is based on a one per cent sample of employees in the PAYE system and is therefore likely to under-represent low paid staff earning below the tax threshold and in particular those who work part-time. Averages will be affected by a relatively small number of employees earning very high gross weekly earning.

Average gross weekly earnings of employees in financial intermediation industry sector
£
Gross weekly earnings
Males
Full-time 653.9
Part-time 1
All 644.1

Average gross weekly earnings of employees in financial intermediation industry sector
£
Gross weekly earnings
Females
Full-time 379.3
Part-time 170.1
All 323.4
1Denotes that a reliable estimate is not available

Note:

2000 NES, Great Britain: Employees on adult rates, whose pay for the survey period was unaffected by absence