To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing tax and national insurance contributions less child benefit, where appropriate, for 1988–89, and comparable figures for 1987–88 and 1978–79, with the multiples of average earnings as half, two thirds, one, five and 10 times for (a) a married couple, with part-time working spouse, (b) a married couple plus two children, with part-time working spouse and (c) a single person.

[holding answer 30 March 1988]: Information on tax and national insurance contributions both at current prices and as a proportion of the appropriate multiple of average earnings is in the table.The multiples of average earnings for single people and husbands are based on average earnings for men in all occupations paid at adult rates who work a full week and whose pay is unaffected by absence. For part-time working spouses, the level of earnings is the appropriate multiple of the average part-time wage for women recorded in the new earnings survey. The levels of earnings for 1988–89 are projections in accordance with the assumptions given to the Government Actuary for reviewing national insurance contributions in paragraph 3·02 of the Autumn Statement 1987; the estimates for 1988–89 are therefore provisional.