HC Deb 29 June 1993 vol 227 cc481-2W
Mr. Nicholas Brown

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list those countries in the European Community which do not have a universal form of child benefit/family allowance.

Mr. Burt

All EC countries except Italy, Spain and France have a universal child benefit/family allowance scheme. The French scheme, although universal in application, pays nothing for the first child, thus effectively excluding a significant proportion of families. There are numerous differences in coverage between countries, often varying according to the ages and number of children.

1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92
Running costs 1,751 1,628 1,718 1,713 1,960 2,156
Capital 89 99 158 301 294 333
Other 1 315 345 384 426 526
Total 1,068 1,234 1,402 1,412 1,841 2,042 2,221 2,398 2,680 3,015