§ Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how much expenditure was made by the Government in each of the last three years on, respectively, sick and disabled persons, retired persons, unemployed persons, single-parent families and low-paid workers.
§ Mr. DeanThe information is not available, but the estimated amounts paid in social security cash benefits to persons in the specified groups where entitlement depends upon being in that group are shown in the following table. Some 371W people qualify for benefit under more than one heading.
£ million Category 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 Sick and disabled* 640 700 810 Retiredt† 2,030 2,335 2,750 Unemployed‡ 240 385 395 Single parent families§ 150 185 210 Low-paid workers║ — 4 10 * Sickness benefit, invalidity benefit, injury benefit, disablement benefit, war disablement pension, attendance allowance, supplementary allowance. † Retirement pension, old persons' pension, £10 bonus (December 1972), supplementary pension. ‡ Unemployment benefit, supplementary allowance. § Widowed mothers allowance, pensions for war and industrial widows with children, supplementary allowance. ║ Family income supplement.