§ Earl Russellasked Her Majesty's Government:
What percentage of lone parents claiming Income Support are now receiving maintenance through the Child Support Agency. [HL530]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Social Security (Baroness Hollis of Heigham)There were 940,000 lone parents claiming Income Support at the end of August 1999. The percentage of those lone parents where maintenance was arranged or in payment through the Child Support Agency was 13.1 per cent.
Source:
Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary of Statistics: August 1999.
177WA
§ Earl Russellasked Her Majesty's Government:
What percentage of lone parents are now claiming Income Support; and what has been the change in this figure since 1989. [HL531]
§ 4. Baroness Hollis of HeighamThe table below gives a broad indication of the percentage of lone parents in receipt of Income Support from 1989 to 1999. Precise figures cannot be provided because the figures have been taken from small samples and will therefore be subject to a degrez., of sampling error.
Income Support Lone Parents as a Percentage of the Lone Parent Population—Great Britain 1989 to 1999: Year Lone Parent Caseload Percentage of lone parents on Income Support 1989 756,000 65% 1990 793,000 64% 1991 871,000 67% 1992 957,000 70% 1993 1,013,000 70% 1994 1,039,000 69% 1995 1,056,000 68% 1996 1,059,000 66% 1997* 1,014,000 63% 1998* 961,000 60% 1999* 936,000 58% Notes:
1.Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.
2.Figures for 1989–93 arc based on a 1 per cent sample, figures for 1994–99 are based on A 5 per cent sample, and as such are subject to a degree of sampling error.
3.Figures quoted are for May of each year. A later figure for August of 1999 is available, when there were 940,000 lone parents on Income Support. This is estimated to represent 59 per cent of the total lone parent population.
*Those years marked with an asterisk exclude the unemployed who transferred to Jobseekers' Allowance with effect from October 1996.
5.The lone parents counted are single claimants, with dependants, who arc not receiving the disability or pensioner premium.
6.Lone parent population figures used to calculate percentages correspond to the appropriate year of data, apart from 1997–99 when 1996 population forecasts have been used.
Sources:
Income Support Statistics Enquiries, May 1989 to August 1999.
Population Trends Lone Parent Population Estimates, 1989–96.