§ 26. Sir B. FALLEasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty if he can state the cost of granting marriage allowance to ratings who may marry at 24, 23 and 22 years of age?
Mr. ALEXANDERAs the reply contains a table of figures, I will, with the hon. Member's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following is the reply:
§ In the absence of statistics of the number of ratings of 22 to 24 years of age who are married and of the size of their families, no reliable figures can be given, but on the basis of such information as is available it is estimated that the annual cost would be approximately as follows:
| If age at which Marriage Allowance is payable were reduced to | Marriage Allowance for wife only. | Marriage Allowance for wife and one child. | ||
| £ | £ | |||
| 24 years | … | … | 5,800 | 9,900 |
| 23 years | … | … | 12,000 | 20,500 |
| 22 years | … | … | 18,700 | 31,900 |