§ Mr. Patrick Jenkinasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many cases of paralytic poliomyelitis have been confirmed in 1977 up to the latest available date compared with the same period in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement, with particular reference to the age distribution of these cases.
§ Mr. Ennals14 cases have been confirmed in England and Wales during the current year up to the end of October, as compared with five, three and seven in the equivalent periods of 1974, 1975 and 1976, respectively. All this year's cases have ben of children under the age of seven; none had been fully protected and 57W 11 were unvaccinated. As regards 1974, two were adults while three were children who were unvaccinated and contracted the disease abroad. The 1975 cases were children, two of whom were partly protected and one unvaccinated. The 1976 cases were one unvaccinated adult and six children under the age of eight; two of the children were incompletely protected and four unvaccinated.
I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for enabling me to draw attention to these figures, which illustrate the dangers of not being fully protected by poliomyelitis vaccine.
MOTHERS WITH CHILDREN (OF ANY AGE) Great Britain (Percentage) Age of youngest child Married mothers aged Other mothers aged Under 20 20–34 35–44 45 and over Under 20 20–34 35–44 45 and over 0–4 100 70 16 1 100 53 7 1 5–9 0 26 35 9 0 34 30 3 10–15 0 4 40 33 0 12 51 16 16 and over 0 0 9 57 0 1 12 81 Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 Numbers in sample (84) (4,025) (3,072) (3,040) (26) (363) (294) (824) "Other" mothers include all who are unmarried, namely single, widowed, divorced and separated. The percentages shown are subject to sampling errors, particularly the percentages for "other" mothers.
§ Mrs. Chalkerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proportion of single mothers and of married mothers with children under 11 years of age, and with children over 11 years of age, are
MOTHERS WITH DEPENDENT CHILDREN Great Britain Married mothers Other mothers Age of youngest child Age of youngest child 0–9 10 and over 0–9 10 and over Percentage working full-time … … 9 27 23 34 Percentage working part-time … … 32 41 20 24 Numbers in sample (100 per cent.) … … 5,753 2,672 483 365 "Other" mothers include all who are unmarried, namely single, widowed, divorced and separated. The percentages shown are subject to sampling errors, particularly the percentages for "other" mothers.