§ Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the effect on the number of working families with incomes below the supplementary benefit level if family allowances were raised to (a) £1.50 per week per eligible child, or (b) £2 per week per eligible child, respectively.
§ Mr. Alec JonesIt is estimated that at the end of 1973—the latest date for which estimates can be made—there were about 50,000 families* with children where the head was working and where their net resources † were below supplementary benefit level. The effect of a hypothetical family allowance—to the second and subsequent children—with no further claw-back, introduced in December 1973, would have been to remove about one-third of the families from below the supplementary benefit level if the family allowance had been raised to £1.50 per eligible child per week, and to remove about one-half of the families if the family allowance had been raised to £2 per eligible child per week. The estimates have been made from the 1973 family expenditure survey and are subject to sampling error.
*These include one parent and two parent families with one or more children. They include families where the head is in full time work or in part time work.
† Net resources are net income less net housing costs less supplementary benefit scale rates and less a notional amount equivalent to exceptional needs payments. A family with negative net resources is said to be below supplementary benefit level.