§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of of State for Social Services how many men who have been unemployed for more than one year and are receiving supplementary benefit have children under the age of 16 years; what is the total number of children in these families; and if lie will give comparable figures for the last 10 years.
§ Mrs. Chalker[pursuant to her reply, 28 February 1980, c. 712.]: Information is available only from 1971 and is given in the following table:
UNEMPLOYED MEN IN RECEIPT OF SUPPLEMENTARY BENEFIT FOR ONE YEAR OR MORE WITH DEPENDENT CHILDREN UNDER 16 YEARS OF AGE Date Number of cases (thousands) Number of children* November 1971 33 91 November 1972 50 145 November 1973 32 89 November 1974 28 80 December 1975 41 113 December 1976 68 182 November 1977† 73 191 November 1978 71 184 * Approximations based on available data. † Due to a change in the method of estimation the figures from 1977 are not completely comparable with those for earlier years.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give, for the latest convenient date, the number of unemployed people who are receiving supplementary benefit and the percentage this represents of all those unemployed; and if he will publish comparable figures for the past 10 years.
§ Mrs. Chalker[pursuant to her reply, 28 February 1980, c. 712]: In November 361W 1979 there were 552,000 unemployed persons receiving supplementary benefit, representing 48 per cent. of all unemployed claimants for benefit or national insurance credits.
For previous years I refer the right hon. Gentleman to my reply to the hon. Member for Birkenhead (Mr. Field) on 21 May.—[Vol. 967, c. 49–50] I should underline the fact that percentages in that reply apply to the total registered unemployed.