§ Mr. Montgomeryasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the amount of money paid out in social security to families of divorced couples since the new Divorce Act became law.
§ Mr. DeanI assume the Question is directed to payments of supplementary benefit. Information about the amount of benefit paid out since the new Divorce Act became law is not yet available, and when it is will give only the amount paid out to divorced women as a group, irrespective of when they were divorced. From the latest information available, it is estimated that in 1970 about £19 million was paid to about 42,500 divorced wives.