§ Ms. HoeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many women, as a percentage of the total female population, claim(a) child benefit, (b) family credit, (c) income support, (d) housing benefit and (e) poll tax benefit; or any combination of these benefits.
§ Mr. BurtSuch information as is available provides that the number of women who claimed the specified benefits, as a percentage of the total female population aged 16 and above in mid-1991, was estimated to be:
Per cent. Family credit 1 Income support 11 Housing benefit 6 Community charge benefit 9 Notes:
1. Information on the numbers of women eligible to claim is not available.
2. Female population of 23,195,000 is based upon provisional 1991 census estimates.
3. In housing benefit and community charge benefit cases without income support, the sex of the claimant is not recorded, therefore no information in respect of these cases can be given.
71W4. In housing benefit and community charge benefit cases that are also in receipt of income support, only the sex of the income support claimant is recorded, which is not necessarily the same as that of the housing benefit and/or community charge benefit claimant.
5. Figures provided are for single women and women as heads of households (i.e. claiming for a male partner).
Recipients of child benefit number 6,717,000, the overwhelming majority of whom are women.