HC Deb 01 March 1968 vol 759 cc447-8W
28. Mr. Evelyn King

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give an estimate of the average value of welfare benefits receivable by a married man with three secondary school children, earning£10,000 a year, in respect of State education, family allowances, food subsidies, National Health Service, school meals, and State pension provision; and how much extra he estimates such a man pays in income tax in respect of the value of these benefits.

Mr. Harold Lever

The average value of the welfare benefits received in 1966 (the latest year for which information is available) by a married man with three children (two girls and a boy) between the ages of 11 and 14 was as follows:

  1. 1. Education (if at maintained schools)—£444 18s. 0d.
  2. 2. National Health Service-£72 17s. 0d.
  3. 3. School Meals and Milk—£55 19s. 0d.
  4. 4. Family Allowances—£46 16s. 0d. Gross.
It is assumed that a man in the circumstances described by the hon. Member earning£10,000 a year would have been in employment throughout the year and thus would have drawn no sickness, unemployment or retirement benefit. No account has been taken of agricultural subsidies which are payments to producers and are not necessarily directly reflected in the price of food. Family Allowances (which are treated as earned income for tax purposes) in respect of his second and third children would have resulted in his paying an extra£32 in tax.