HC Deb 02 June 1992 vol 208 c483W
Mr. Wigley

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many recipients of income support aged between 18 to 24 years are living away from home and are entitled to the personal allowance for(a) persons aged 18 to 24 years, and (b) persons aged 25 years and over;

(2) what would be the cost of raising the income support personal allowance for persons aged 18 to 24 years who are living away from home to the level of the personal allowance for persons aged 25 and over;

(3) how many recipients of income support aged 18 to 24 years are entitled to the personal allowance rate which is generally appropriate to persons aged 25 years and over.

Mr. Burt

The latest available figures show that in May 1990 there were 218,000 single people aged 18 to 24 receiving income support at the rate appropriate to those aged 25 or over. This information is derived from the Income Support Annual Statistical Enquiry, May 1990, a copy of which is available in the Library.

There is no comparable statistic on the number of 18 to 24-year-old income support claimants who might he "living away from home", which has no standard definition. However, modelling based on data from the 1987–88–89 Family Expenditure Survey offers an estimate that in 1992–93 there are (a) 180,000 receiving the 18 to 24 personal allowance, and (b) 220,000 receiving the personal allowance for those aged 25 or over. This assumes that "living away from home" means people classified by the Family Expenditure Survey as the head of the household, plus all those living in the household of a person who is a non-relative.

From this an estimated total cost of raising the income support rate for those aged 18 to 24 who are living away from home to the same level as those aged 25 or over is around £110 million in a full year, including housing benefit and community charge benefit.