§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many men have been granted social security allowances in each of the last six years after giving up a job to care for an ill dependent relative.
§ Mr. MajorAs regards invalid care allowance, the available information is as follows. I regret that information before April 1981 is not available.
Invalid care allowance—awards to men caring for a relative with attendance allowance Year Number *1981 545 1982 1,697 1983 1,816 1984 2,105 1985 2,211 * From April. As regards supplementary benefit, the available information relates to the number of men receiving benefit at any one time who were not required to be available for work because they were caring for a sick or disabled person, as follows. Information later than 1983 is not available.
Year Number (estimated) 1978 8,000 1979 7,000 1980 7,000 1981 6,000 1982 6,000 1983 6,000 It is estimated that from 1982 about 1,000 of these men were also receiving invalid care allowance. Information is not available about the number of men receiving supplementary benefit who had given up work to care for a sick or disabled person, or the number caring for a dependent relative. The figures do not include male carers who were not required to be available for work for reasons other than caring.