HC Deb 08 July 1974 vol 876 cc397-8W
Sir B. Rhys Williams

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are her most recent estimates of the cost of increasing supplementary benefits for one-parent families by £1.50 per week and of increasing the disregard of earnings to £4 per week; and how many families would be likely to benefit in each case.

Mr. O'Malley

The most recent estimate of the cost of increasing supplementary benefit for one-parent families by £1.50 per week is just over £20 million a year. About 265,000 one-parent families are receiving supplementary benefit. The estimated cost of increasing the disregard of earnings from £2 to £4 per week is

DATE OF CONSTRUCTION
(Percentage in each period)
Pre 1851 1851 to 1870 1871 to 1890 1891 to 1918 1919 to 1944 Post 1944 All ages
9.2 6.1 10.9 20.5 15.5 37.8 100.0

about £5 million for all supplementary benefit recipients who currently have some earnings disregarded; this figure includes about £2 million for one-parent families. The numbers likely to benefit would be about 60,000 and 21,000 respectively.