§ Mr. Lomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many one-parent families there are in Great Britain; and if he will show the number of parents who are single, separated, widowed or divorced.
§ Mr. OrmeThe estimated number of one-parent families in Great Britain in 1971 based on the census was given in the Finer Committee Report as follows:
Thousands single females 90 married females 190 widowed females 120 divorced females 120 males 100 Total 620 No later estimates are available, although I would again refer my hon. Friend to my 399W reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Barking (Miss Richardson) on 8th July—[Vol. 934, c. 679–680.]
§ Mrs. Wiseasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the cost of reducing the qualifying period for the long-term rate of supplementary benefit for lone parents from two years to (a) one year, (b) six months and (c) nil; and how many claimants would benefit in each case.
§ Mr. DeakinsThe full-year costs at November 1977 rates, and the number who would benefit, would be in the order of (a) £12 million (about 62,000); (b) £20 million (about 105,000); (c) £32 million (about 165,000) respectively.
§ Mr. Ovendenasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what would be the current rate at today's prices of the supplement proposed at paragraph 5.254 of the Report of the Committee on One-Parent Families, Command Paper No. 5629 for lone parents who receive supplementary benefit; how many lone parents would currently benefit from such a supplement; and what the cost would be.
§ Mr. OrmeThe current rate at today's prices would be £3.25. The number of lone parents who are currently receiving supplementary benefit, and who would, therefore, benefit from the supplement, is not known; but in December 1976 there were 323,000 On the basis of that number the cost of providing the supplement at today's prices would be of the order of £55 million. It is not possible to say how many additional lone parents would be attracted on to supplementary benefit.