§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average total benefit payment paid to a man, who has a non-working wife and two children under 16 years, becoming unemployed in June 1982 (i) per week and (ii) per year; and whether he will give the comparable figures for the year commencing June 1981.
§ Mr. Newton[pursuant to his reply, 28 July 1982, c. 558]: Information at the dates requested is not available. However, the benefit payable to a married man with two children becoming unemployed in June 1981 and June 1982 who qualified for unemployment benefit at the standard rate was as follows:
June 1981 June 1982 Unemployment benefit married rate £33.40 £36.40 Addition for two children £2.50 £1.60 Child Benefit £9.50 £10.50 plus any rent and rate rebates to which he was entitled and, in the case of a man becoming unemployed in June 1981, an earnings-related supplement, dependent on his earnings in the relevant tax year.
If the man qualified for supplementary benefit his income, assuming that the children were aged 8 and 12 would have been brough up to £52.80 in June 1981 and £57.55 in June 1982 plus his housing costs and any additional requirements to which he might have been entitled.