§ Mrs. Chalkerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many applications for FIS have been received in the last 12 months from working wives, whose husbands are unemployed; and how this compares with 1973 and 1974.
§ Mr. MeacherI regret that no information is available about the number of630W joint claims made for family income supplement in which the wife was working and the husband was unemployed at the date of claim. The rejection of such claims is not recorded separately from several other categories in which the husband was unable to satisfy the scheme's full-time work condition. In the 12 months ending October 1975 there were 5,520 claims in all categories from two-parent families rejected on these grounds; the figures for the 12 months ending October 1974 and October 1973 were 7,430 and 7,390, respectively.