§ Mr. Nicholas BrownTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many(a) mothers and (b) families in receipt of child benefit pay income tax at the higher rate; and how many children they have who qualify for child benefit.
§ Mrs. Gillian Shephard[holding answer 9 February 1990]: The latest available estimates for the United Kingdom suggest that about 0.6 million families, with about 1.1 million children, receive child benefit and pay income tax at the higher rate in 1989–90. Among these is an estimated 0.2 million mothers, with about 0.3 million children. These include wives who, under the present system for taxing married couples, are liable to a 40 per cent. marginal tax rate only when the husband's earnings are taken into account.
These estimates are based on information from the 1987–88 survey of personal incomes projected to 1989–90 and are provisional.
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many(a) mothers, (b) families and (c) children in families are in receipt of child benefit with annual incomes in the ranges: (i) up to £5,000, (ii) £5,001 to £7,500, (iii) £7,501 to £10,000, (iv) £10,001 to £15,500, (v) £15,001 to £20,000, (vi) £20,001 to £25,000, (vii) £25,001 to £30,000, (viii), £30,001 to £50,000 and (ix) over £50,000.
§ Mrs. Gillian Shephard[holding answer 9 February 1990]: In the great majority of families child benefit is paid to the mother. The small number of other recipients cannot be reliably estimated and it is not possible therefore to break the figures down below family units and numbers of children. Information about the incomes of families receiving child benefit is not routinely collected. The following estimates of the distribution of gross incomes of recipient families in 1989–90 are therefore made on the basis of sample survey data which are subject to normal sampling and response variation.
790W
Band of Gross Income Families Receiving Child Benefit Number of Children (000s) (000s) Under £5,000 430 490 £5,001 to £7,500 1,010 1,940 £7,501 to £10,000 730 1,390 £10,001 to £15,000 1,520 2,620 £15,001 to £20,000 1,380 2,520 £20,001 to £25,000 740 1,340 £25,001 to £30,000 410 710 £30,001 to £50,000 450 790 over £50,000 100 190 TOTAL 6,760 12,000
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many(a) mothers, (b) families and (c) children in families would lose entitlement to child benefit as a result of having an income below the tax threshold if child benefit were abolished and replaced by a tax allowance.
§ Mrs. Gillian Shephard[holding answer 9 February 1990]: It is estimated that 1.6 million families with 2.9 million children in the United Kingdom in 1989–90 are non-taxpayers, and of these around 1.3 million with 2.3 million children receive income-related benefits with a further 0.2 million entitled but not claiming. There are estimated to be about a further 0.8 million families with 1.4 million children who would not be fully compensated through the tax system and around half of these are, or would be, entitled to income-related benefits.
These figures are based on information from the 1987–88 survey of personal incomes, projected to 1989–90, combined with the 1987 family expenditure survey. There is no reliable basis for any further division of the figures, but nearly all child benefit recipients are mothers.