To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average wage was for persons aged between 16 and 25 years (a) in total, (b) for those with higher education qualifications and (c) for those without higher education qualifications in (i) Cornwall, (ii) each parliamentary constituency in Cornwall, (iii) the south-west and (iv) England in each year since 1979. (166710)

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 26 November 2007:

As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question about the average earnings of young people with and without higher education qualifications. (166710)

The attached table gives the average gross weekly earnings of full-time employees aged 16-24, with and without higher education qualifications, resident in Cornwall, the South West region and England. The figures shown are estimates from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) for the three month period ending June of each year. This information is not available for periods prior to 1997. The LFS sample is too small to provide estimates for each constituency within Cornwall. The survey does not collect information about the earnings of self-employed people.

As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of

uncertainty.