§ Mr. Lomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services why no family allowance is payable in respect of the first child; and what is his estimate of the cost to the Exchequer of paying the same amount for the first child as is at present payable to the second child.
§ Mr. EnnalsThe exclusion of the first child is based on the view originally put forward in the Beveridge report that so long as a breadwinner is earning he can reasonably be expected to bear the cost of maintaining one child without financial assistance from the State. The gross cost in 1970–71 of paying family allowances of 18s. per week for the first child would be £330 million.