Hourly Gross Earnings

Treasury written question – answered at on 11 January 2005.

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Photo of Ms Annabelle Ewing Ms Annabelle Ewing Spokesperson (Social Security (SNP Shadow Scottish Minister); Education & Skills; Home Office; Law Officers; Work & Pensions)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of (a) male, (b) female and (c) all full-time workers in (i) Scotland, (ii) each unitary local authority area in Scotland and (iii) Great Britain had hourly gross earnings (A) including and (B) excluding overtime of below (1) £7.58, (2) £5.68 and (3) £4.20 on the latest date for which figures are available.

Photo of Stephen Timms Stephen Timms The Financial Secretary to the Treasury

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

Letter from Colin Mowl to Annabelle Ewing, dated 11 January 2005

The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what proportion of (a) male, (b) female and (c) all full-time workers in (i) Scotland, (ii) each local unitary authority area in Scotland and (iii) Great Britain had gross hourly earnings (A) including and (B) excluding overtime of below (1) £7.58, (2) £5.68 and (3) £4.20 on the latest date for which figures are available. I am replying in his absence. (207577)

Average earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings and are provided for full time employees on adult rates of pay whose pay was unaffected by absence during the pay period, by their place of work. This is the standard definition used for Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings tables. The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings does not collect data on the self employed and people who do unpaid work.

I am placing in the House of Commons Library, tables showing the counts and proportion of full-time workers for Great Britain, Scotland and Scottish local authorities earning below the stated hourly pay levels.

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, carried out in April of each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. It is a one per cent sample of all employees who are members of pay-as-you-earn schemes, but because of its sampling frame, it has difficulty capturing data on people with very low pay. It is therefore likely to under-represent relatively low paid staff earning below the tax threshold.

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings publication criteria ensures that all estimates are undisclosive. A number of estimates have been removed from the published tables for these reasons.

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