EARNINGS IN BRITISH REGIONS IN 1948

AuthorC. E. V. Leser1
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9485.1954.tb00702.x
Date01 October 1954
Published date01 October 1954
EARNINGS
IN
BRITISH REGIONS
IN
1948
UNTIL
a few years ago, information on regional variation in earnings
within Great Britain was almost entirely lacking, but this important
deficiency in British statistics
is
now on the point
of
being remedied.
Some of the recent Inland Revenue Reports give data
on
Schedule
D
and
E
income classified by region. and although their interpretation
requires some
care,
they provide much valuable information. In
addition, the 1948 Census
of
Production reports. unlike their pre-
decessors, contain regional data on wages and salaries for a large
number
of
trades.
A third potential source
of
information on regional earnings is
provided by the Ministry of Labour Earnings and
Hours
of
Work
Enquiry, though, unfortunately, the Ministry of Labour has not
so
far seen
fit
to
publish any results on a regional basis. Miss Phyllis
Bane was. however, permitted to use regional results of the Earnings
Enquiry of October 1949
to
obtain estimates of regional incomes.
Some
of
these estimates, which, in addition to the Ministry
of
Labour
statistics, were based on the published sources mentioned above, have
been set out
by
her in a recent article.'
Since then, summaries have been published
of
the Census
of
Production reports for the years 1948 and 1949. providing, among
other things, information
on
earnings
in
each standard region
for
all
manufacturing establishments covered by the Census (i.e. employing
more than ten workers on the average). Table
I
reproduces the figures
for 1948, converted into averages.
According
to
the
first
column of figures given, average earnings
in
manufacturing are highest
in
London and in the South
of
England.
followed by Wales; the Midlands and the East and North of England
also have earnings above the national average. Earnings are below
the average for Great Britain
in
the South West, even more
so
in
the
East and West Ridings. the North Midlands and the North West of
England. while Scotland has an earnings level below that
of
any region
of
England and Wales.
Of course, the economic mcaning
of
these average earnings figures
is very limited. What we are chiefly interested
in
is either the regional
income
in
relation
to
the tot31 population of the region, indicating
Phyllis Deane. Regional Variations in United Kingdom Incomes
from
Employment.
1948
'.
Journal
of
the
Royal Statistical Society,
Series
A.
268
Vol.
116, 1953,
pp.
123-39.

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