HC Deb 10 December 1996 vol 287 cc178-9W
23. Mr. Nigel Griffiths

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the number of lone parents on(a) income support in the United Kingdom and (b) on comparable benefits in other EU countries. [6867]

Mr. Andrew Mitchell

At the end of November 1995 there were 1,095,000 income support recipients in the United Kingdom receiving the lone parent premium. Social assistance benefits in other EU countries are not strictly comparable with income support: countries such as Greece, Portugal and Italy have very limited schemes; some schemes are local, others national; and most other countries require lone parents to be available for work even when they have children of school age.

Notes:

1. The figure has been rounded to the nearest thousand.

2. The figure given is the number of income support recipients who receive the lone-parent premium. This excludes some one parent families who receive a higher-value premium by reason of age and/or disability.

Source:

"Income Support Statistics Quarterly Enquiry" November 1995. "Northern Ireland 100 per cent Income Support Caseload" count.