HC Deb 16 November 1973 vol 864 cc281-2W
Mr. Meacher

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many fatherless families he estimates there are in Great Britain at the present time; how many are in receipt of supplementary benefit; in how many the mother earns more than £8 per week; and what would be the cost of granting them, net of supplementary benefit savings, a national insurance benefit at the rate of, respectively, the current widowed mother's allowance, or £10 per week, or £14 per week.

Mr. Dean

It is estimated that in 1971 there were about 520,000 fatherless families in Great Britain, approximately 233,000 of them receiving supplementary benefit. Excluding widows receiving national insurance benefits, the number where the mother earned £8 a week or more was 130,000. The only later figures available are for the numbers receiving supplementary benefit—246,000 in November 1972. It is not possible to estimate the cost of paying a national insurance benefit to fatherless families without knowing on what contribution and other conditions it is assumed to be made available.