§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Official Report all benefits, in sickness, health, childbirth and old age, in which a married couple receive different sums from a man and woman living together; and if he will list the respective amounts for each.
§ Mr. OrmeFor the purposes of the supplementary benefits and family income supplement schemes it makes no difference whether a man and woman who are residing in the same household are married or living together as husband and wife. In the national insurance scheme, the main difference is that a woman who is living with a man to whom she is not married 549W can be treated as his dependant only if she has the care of a child or children for whom the man is responsible. A further difference is that a married woman who acquires rights to maternity grant or retirement pension on the contributions of her husband can receive these benefits if she is living with another man, but a corresponding right does not arise on the contributions of a man to whom she is not legally married. The following are the rates of the benefits:
Maternity Grant £25.00 Retirement pension on husband's contributions and dependency increase of invalidity and retirement pension £10.50 Dependency increase of short-term benefit £9.10