asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the net income of a married man with two children in 1935who received a gross income of £5,000 a year; what it would be today; and what it would amount to today allowing for the depreciation in the value of the £ between 1935 and today.

A gross earned income of £5,000, in the case of a married man with two children, produced a net income, after deduction of tax, of £3,687 in 1935–36 and £2,689 in 1953–54. The latter amount is equivalent in purchasing power to about £1,090 in 1935–36.