§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give the number of persons in receipt of supplementary benefit or income support in each year 273W since 1979, both in total and by type of claimant, including (a) the unemployed, (b) lone parents, (c) the sick and disabled, (d) pensioners, and (e) other groups, stating in each case the percentage increase each year.
Year Number of supplementary benefit/income support recipients Percentage change Unemployed Unemployed percentage change Lone parents Lone parents percentage change Sick and disabled Sick and disabled percentage change Pensioners Pensioners percentage change Others Others percentage change 1979 2,855,000 — 566,000 — 306,000 — 207,000 — 1,723,000 — 52,000 — 1980 3,118,000 9.25 854,000 50.88 316,000 3.27 205,000 -1.00 1,694,000 -1.68 49,000 -5.77 1981 3,723,000 19.40 1,318,000 54.33 369,000 16.77 221,000 7.80 1,738,000 2.60 77,000 57.14 1982 4,267,000 14.61 1,722,000 30.65 415,000 12.47 240,000 8.60 1,781,000 2.47 109,000 41.56 1983 4,349,000 1.92 1,826,000 6.04 449,000 8.19 241,000 0.42 1,651,000 -7.30 182.000 66.97 1984 4,609,000 5.98 1,953,000 6.96 492.000 9.58 273,000 13.28 1,683,000 1.94 208,000 14.29 1986 4,938,000 7.14 2,121,000 8.60 575,000 16.87 301,000 10.26 1,717,000 2.02 224,000 7.69 1987 4,896,000 -0.85 1,957,000 -7.73 629,000 9.39 352,000 16.94 1,727,000 0.58 231,000 3.12 1988 4,352,000 -11.13 1,511,000 -22.79 694,000 10.33 247,000 -29.83 1,719,000 -0.46 180,000 -22.08 1989 4,161,000 -4.34 1,216,000 -19.52 756,000 8.93 290,000 17.41 1,607,000 -6.52 293,000 62.78 1990 4,180,000 0.43 1,063,000 -12.58 793,000 4.89 330,000 13.79 1.675,000 4.23 319,000 8.87 Sources: Supplementary Benefit/Income Support Annual Statistical Enquiries 1979–1990.
Notes:
1. All figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.
2. There was no annual statistical inquiry in 1985; the one due in December of that year was deferred until February 1986.