§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to her answer of 27 November 1997,Official Report, column 664, for how many of the 433 lone parents referred to in Table 1 of her Department's publication "A New Deal for Lone Parents: Moving Forward-Progress Report on the First Three Months" reported as having obtained work she has information in the form set out in Table 2 of that report; and if she will publish such information as she has in that form. [18886]
§ Mr. Keith Bradley[holding answer 3 December 1997]Information on the age, number of children, wage, previous duration on benefit, type of work and area is available for 409 of the 864 lone parents who have moved into work under the New Deal for Lone Parents up to the end of November. This information has been placed in the Library.
237WThe Government do not routinely collect data on in-work costs for lone parents moving into work under the New Deal. This information will instead be assessed during the separate research commissioned for the New Deal. The research data will be released when the research is complete.
The eight estimates of financial gain from moving into work provided in the report "Moving Forward" were provided to illustrate the effects on individuals before in-work costs. These data are not, though, sufficiently robust for analysis of the impact of the New Deal.
§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment she has made, and on the basis of what sources of information, of the difference in incomes between lone parents on income support and those in work(a) before and (b) after child care costs are taken into account. [19703]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyEstimates by the independent Policy Studies Institute indicate that the weekly income for lone parents already in work and receiving Family Credit is likely to be, on average, over £50 more than their estimated income on Income Support.
This estimate is based on a 1994 sample of lone parents in work, adjusted by the Policy Studies Institute to take account of two subsequent policy changes (the introduction of the childcare disregard in all in-work benefits in October 1994 and the introduction of a 30 hour credit in Family Credit in July 1995) and the annual uprating of benefit levels. It does not take account of changes announced in June 1997 to extend the child care disregard further.
The £50 per week estimate is before in-work costs which, excluding child care costs, averaged £5 per week; 79 per cent. were not paying for child care.
Some 21 per cent. of the sample were paying for child care. After allowing for in-work costs, including the costs of child care, this group is on average over £18 per week better off in work than on Income Support. These figures are, however, based on a small sample and should be treated with caution.
Direct comparisons between out of work income and in-work income for those lone parents currently receiving Income Support are difficult. It is not straightforward to predict the earnings of those lone parents who move into work since this would depend on the type of job they might get, and for how many hours. In addition, it is not possible to predict what child care costs they might have.
In order to ensure that more lone parents are better off financially in work, the Government will implement a National Minimum Wage and National Child Care Strategy, reforming the tax and benefit systems, and provide extra help with the cost of child care and access to lifetime learning.
It is important to recognise, though, that the financial return from working is not the only consideration which lone parents make in deciding to work. Qualitative research indicates that some lone parents choose to work in part to provide a role model for their children, and to take them away from dependency on benefit.
238WThe New Deal for Lone Parents will provide practical help and advice for the lone parents on Income Support who want to move into work. As part of the New Deal service, lone parents who have been offered work, and have been advised of their earnings, can ask their Personal Adviser for an estimate of their likely entitlement to Family Credit and other in-work benefits. The evaluation of the programme includes a quantitative survey of a sample of participants in all eight areas of the scheme which will collect systematic information from lone parents on how much actually better off they are in work.
§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average income of a lone parent on (i) family credit and (ii) income support(a) in rented accommodation and (b) with a mortgage. [20548]
§ Mr. Keith Bradley[holding answer 12 December 1997]The information is set out in the table.
£ per week Before housing costs After housing costs Mean Median Mean Median Families on family credit in rented accommodation 197 198 155 155 Families on family credit with a mortgage 202 204 171 167 Families on income support in rented accommodation 184 166 135 116 Families on income support with a mortgage 177 166 127 112 Source
Households Below Average Income (HBAI).
Notes
1. Figures are for 1995–96.
2. The data come from the Department's Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series, based on the Family Resources Survey (FRS) and covering Great Britain. The FRS data were used to achieve a large enough sample size to provide more robust information. All results are subject to sampling error.
3. Both mean and median figures are given. This is because mean results may be affected by atypical households skewing the results.
4. The income measure used is weekly net (disposable) equivalised household income. The definition of income used follows that in the published HBAI series for FRS based results and therefore takes no account of child care costs; figures are given both before and after housing costs in line with usual HBAI practice. Families are counted as "with a mortgage" if the household they live in has a mortgage.