§ Mrs. Chalkerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many married women would be eligible for family income supplement if the law permitted their nomination as head of household, and thus receipt of this benefit;
(2) if he will give the latest available breakdown of recipients of family income supplement by sex, marital status, and number of children in the family, and give his best estimate of the cost of extending the availability of family income 553W supplement to married women, whose husbands cannot work.
§ 1. Mr. OrmeI regret that the information is not available in the form requested. The only available information on the cost of extending family income supplement to married women and the numbers affected is that given by my hon. Friend
NUMBER OF FAMILIES RECEIVING FAMILY INCOME SUPPLEMENT IN APRIL 1978—GREAT BRITAIN Thousands Number of dependent children Family type 1 2 3 4 5 6 or more All Two-parents … 10.7 16.1 13.6 8.2 4.1 2.1 54.7 One-parent (male) … 0.5 0.5 0.2 0.1 * * 1.4 One-parent (female) … 22.7 11.2 4.2 1.4 0.3 0.1 39.9 All … 33.9 27.8 18.0 9.8 4.4 2.2 96.0 Notes:
* = Less than 100.
2. All figures are rounded to the nearest 100. The sum of component parts therefore may not equal the total.
3. The figures are based on a 10 per cent. sample of awards.