§ 12. Ms StuartTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what measures he has put in place to support families. [87068]
457W
§ Mr. MilburnThe Government have announced an ambitious programme of support for families which will mean that by the end of this Parliament we will be spending an extra £6 billion a year on our 13.8 million children.
Families will benefit from the largest ever increase in Child Benefit—an extra £2.50 a week for the eldest child from this April—and further three per cent. real increases for all children from next April. Together with the introduction of the new Children's Tax Credit in April 2001, a family with one child will receive double the support for their child compared to May 1997—£23 a week. We are also targeting extra support on the poorest families through the introduction of the Working Families Tax Credit and increases in IS. On average, £750 more will be going to each of 5.75 million children in low-income households every year by the end of this Parliament. The WFTC will make 1.5 million families on average £24 a week better off, benefiting three million children. It will provide a guaranteed minimum income of £200 a week (£10,400 a year for a family with someone in full-time work on the National Minimum Wage.
These measures combined will lift 700,000 children out of poverty. Families with children will, on average, be £740 a year better off.