HC Deb 10 April 2000 vol 348 c24W
Mr. Gerald Howarth

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many adults living in poverty are(a) unmarried mothers and (b) divorced women. [117569]

Mr. Bayley

Poverty is a multi-dimensional problem which cannot be defined solely on the basis of a particular level of income. One indicator which may be used, however, is whether the income of the household is below 60 per cent. of median. The following table provides this information for unmarried and divorced women.

Number of unmarried mothers and divorced women living in households below 60 per cent. of median income, 1997–98
Million
Before housing costs After housing costs
Unmarried mothers 0.3 0.5
Divorced women with children 0.2 0.3
Divorced women without children 0.1 0.2

Notes:

  1. 1. All estimates are subject to sampling error or response biases.
  2. 2. Estimates of household income are presented both before and after housing costs in line with HBAI conventions.

Source:

Households Below Average Income (HBAI). Figures are drawn from the Family Resources Survey.

We are determined to tackle poverty and its causes. Work is the best route out of poverty. That is why we have introduced Welfare to Work programmes such as the ONE pilots and New Deals to advise all groups of working age people, including unmarried mothers and divorced women, about the options available to them and to help them into work. And through the introduction of the National Minimum Wage and tax and benefit reforms we are making sure that work pays. These programmes are working, producing results. For example, up to December 1999, 103,000 lone parents had volunteered to participate in the New Deal for Lone Parents and 35,000 had found work.

Mr. Gerald Howarth

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many divorced women without dependent children were in receipt of social security benefits in(a) 1970, (b) 1980 and (c) 1999; and what was the cost of such benefits in each of those years. [117532]

Angela Eagle

The information is not available.

The Department does not routinely collect information on the marital status of benefit recipients.

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