§ 41. Dame Irene Wardasked the Minister of Pensions and National Insurance whether he will set up an official inquiry into the position of married persons with large families, with a view to ascertaining whether family allowances are sufficient to provide requisite standards of nutrition.
§ Mr. WoodNo, Sir. Family allowances are a general supplement to family income, but they have never been intended to cover the full cost of maintaining a child.
§ Dame Irene WardHas my right hon. Friend read the recent book on nutrition in Britain, which seems to indicate that children in large families are somewhat undernourished? When a book of that kind appears, would it not be a good idea, in the interests of the community as a whole, for my right hon. Friend not, perhaps, to be quite so dogmatic, but really to find out what the facts are, and whether these statements are correct, so that we can take appropriate action?
§ Mr. WoodI have seen this pamphlet. One of the interesting parts of it is that this disparity in nutrition between the small families and the larger families is not correlated very closely to income. The disparity is true of both the families with higher incomes and those with lower incomes. In any event, my hon. Friend will be aware that the welfare services—school meals, school milk and so on—are intended as much as family allowances to deal with the problem.
§ Dame Irene WardWould my right hon. Friend bear in mind that I had to put the Question in this form in order to get it to him? Is it not possible that the whole situation requires looking at, or does not my right hon. Friend agree at all with the facts that are brought forward?
§ Mr. WoodI realise that this pamphlet—and, indeed, the National Food Survey—has made clear that the larger families tend to be less well-nourished than the smaller families, but this is common to families in all income groups. I will certainly bear in mind what my hon. Friend says.