§ 46. Mr. Gwilym Robertsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will take steps to enable men to draw Social Security benefit for themselves and their families when they have to stay off work due to the illness of the wife; what is the estimated cost of such a provision; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. PentlandWhere there is no alternative to the man's staying at home, supplementary benefit can be paid to meet the requirements both of himself and his family. The estimated yearly cost of such payments is of the order of £¾ million.
§ Mr. RobertsAlthough we are aware that the man will obtain a supplementary benefit, is it not time either that the sickness of the wife should be accounted as ordinary sickness in these terms or, much more progressively, that the rôle of housewife should be recognised in social security contribution terms, and that she should therefore be given a proper status as a worker in society?
§ Mr. PentlandNo, Sir. That would mean a complete change in the national insurance scheme. My hon. Friend will 929 know that National Insurance benefits are to compensate for earnings lost through incapacity for work, unemployment or old age. Provision for other contingencies such as the one he mentioned is made through the supplementary benefits scheme.
§ Mr. FortescueIs the hon. Gentleman aware that there are well-documented cases of doctors giving sickness notes to husbands when their wives are sick to enable them to draw sickness benefit while staying at home to look after the children?
§ Mr. PentlandIf the hon. Gentleman would draw our attention to these cases, we should certainly look into them for him.