Supplementary Benefit and Income Support

HC Deb 23 March 1989 vol 149 c788W

Ms. Armstrong

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many children under 16(a) in total and (b) as a percentage of all children were living in households dependent on supplementary benefit and income support for each of the last 10 years.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

The latest available figures are:

Number of children under 16 in Great Britain
	Total	Dependent on supplementary benefit	Percentage
November 1977	13,059,400	1,122,000	8.59
November 1978	12,798,000	1,048,000	8.19
November 1979	12,575,100	923,000	7.34
December 1980	12,343,700	1,088,000	8.82
December 1981	12,098,600	1,493,000	12.34
December 1982	11,856,700	1,721,000	14.52
December 1983	11,637,400	1,790,000	15.38
December 1984	11,462,300	1,949,000	17.00
1985	No figures available
February 1986	11,250,700	2,123,000	18.87
May 1987	11,148,800	2,111,000	18.94