§ 14. Mr. HindTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish details of child benefit payments paid by the United Kingdom and other European Community countries; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MooreWe have every reason to be proud of our record of recognising the extra costs of providing for children. Our provision for and recognition of these costs compares very favourably with that of other EC countries.
For a two-parent family with one child under two the United Kingdom stands ahead of every other member state in its child benefit payments. In addition, for a two-parent family with two children under six the United Kingdom ranks third. The details that my hon. Friend is seeking are given in my Department's publication, "Tables of Social Benefit Systems in the European Communities (Position at 1 January 1988)", a copy of which is in the Library.