Farmers: Low Incomes

Matthew Taylor
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many and what proportion of farmer households in (a) Cornwall, (b) the South West and (c) England were below the modified low income threshold in each year for which figures are available.

Jonathan Shaw
The following table shows the number and proportion of farmer households below the modified low income threshold in Cornwall, the South West and England in 2005-06. Farm household income data are not available prior to this. Data for 2006-07 will become available in the first half of 2008.

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|                                    |Estimated number of farm households below the modified low income threshold|Estimated proportion of households below the modified low income threshold (percentage)|
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|Cornwall                            |800                                                                        |55                                                                                     |
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|South West GOR                      |4,300                                                                      |37                                                                                     |
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|England                             |19,100                                                                     |31                                                                                     |
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|Source:Farm Business Survey, 2005-06|                                                                           |                                                                                       |
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