§ Sir B. Rhys Williamsasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish a table showing the rates of family allowances in the EEC countries, including Great Britain, and in Sweden and New Zealand; and what proportion
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FAMILY ALLOWANCE RATES IN THE EEC COUNTRIES, SWEDEN AND NEW ZEALAND (As at 1st January 1973, unless otherwise stated, based on available published information) Country Allowances Monthly United Kingdom … … 2nd child £3.90 3rd child £4.33 Each subsequent child £4.33 France … … 2nd child 110.60F 3rd and 4th child, each 184.62F 5th and each subsequent child 166.30F plus additional allowances:— (a) ranging from 38.90F to 97.25F if there is only one breadwinner and (b) ranging from 41.24F to 73.31F, according to the ages of the children Federal Republic of Germany … … 2nd child, 25DM (but not payable if income exceeds 15,000DM per annum unless there are more than 2 children) 3rd and 4th child, each 60DM 5th and each subsequent child 70DM Italy … … For each child 5,720 lire Belgium* … … 1st child 693.75BF 2nd child 1,168.75BF 3rd and each subsequent child 1,636.50BF plus additional allowances ranging from 151.50BF to 432.25BF, according the ages of the children. Netherlands … … 1st child 54.86 florins 2nd and 3rd child, each 65.26 florins 4th and 5th child, each 87.10 florins 6th and 7th child, each 96.46 florins 8th and each subsequent child 106.60 florins Luxembourg† … … 1st child 629FL 2nd child 629FL 3rd and each subsequent child 1,411FL Irish Republic … … 1st child 0.50 2nd child £1.50 3rd and each subsequent child £2.25 Denmark‡ … … For each child 93.66Dkr Sweden … … For each child l00Skr New Zealand … … For each child 13 $NZ Notes * Belgian rates as at August 1972 (latest available). † Luxembourg rates as at 1st July 1972 (latest available). ‡ Danish rates as at 1st January 1971 (latest available). family allowances provide in each case of the net income of a family consisting of a breadwinner earning the average wage with a wife and two children.
§ Sir K. JosephThe following table gives the rates of family allowances in the countries referred to. I regret that the information asked for in the second part of the Question is not available except in the case of Great Britain, where family allowances represented approximately 2–9 per cent. of the income—net of tax and national insurance contributions—of a family with two children where the breadwinner was receiving the average earnings of a male manual worker as at April 1973.