§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is the supplementary benefit to a wife in a polygamous marriage who is not classified as the wife;
(2) if he will publish a statement in the Official Report to show how wives, other than the wife in a polygamous marriage, are treated by the Supplementary Benefits Commission; and whether there is any top limit to the number of wives for which such claims can be made;
(3) what is his latest estimate of polygamous marriages in Great Britain; and how many such families are currently claiming supplementary benefits.
§ Mr. OrmeIf a man satisfies the normal conditions for receiving supplementary574W benefit, he may make a claim for more than one wife living in the same household. In theory, there is no limit to the number of wives for which a man may claim as his dependants. In practice, inquiries suggest that very few such claims are made and no payments are known to have been made to a man in respect of more than two wives. In these circumstances, the amount of benefit is calculated on the basis of the resources and requirements of all those living in the household. The amount allowed for a second wife in a household is the difference between the scale rate for a married couple and that for a single householder: this is a lesser charge on public funds than if the second wife was treated as a separate claimant. No information is available on which to make an estimate of the number of polygamous marriages in Great Britain.