HC Deb 23 October 1989 vol 158 c344W
49. Mr. Andrew F. Bennett

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement about the number of eligible families who fail to claim family credit.

Mrs. Gillian Shephard

The latest information relates to 1988 when a special examination of family expenditure survey returns indicated that the total eligible employee population was then about 500,000 families. This compared with an average live load (including eligible cases awaiting award) during the same period of about 253,000. The live load is now around 315,000, but the number of eligible families cannot be estimated until information from the 1989 family expenditure survey becomes available.