HC Deb 11 April 2000 vol 348 cc140-1W
Mr. Gerald Howarth

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many single parents in(a) 1970, (b) 1980 and (c) 1999 were in receipt of social security benefits, excluding child benefit or its equivalent; and what was (i) the cost of such benefits and (ii) the proportion of the total social security budget which they constituted in each of these years. [117534]

Angela Eagle

The information is in the table.

Notes:

  1. 1. Estimates of the numbers on benefit are based on 1 per cent. and 5 per cent. scans of benefit computer systems. These scans select 1 per cent. or 5 per cent. of the relevant cases and so are subject to some degree of sampling error.
  2. 2. The proportions have been calculated using departmental forecasts of the number of lone parents. Figures have been rounded to the nearest percentage point.
  3. 3. Some lone parents will be in receipt of other benefits such as Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disability Allowance or Industrial Injuries Benefit. We have not included them in this table, as we cannot separately identify lone parents on the computer systems for these benefits. Other benefits is defined to include Jobseeker's Housing Allowance (Income Based) (JSA(IB)), Widowed Mothers Allowance and Family Credit (FC).
  4. 4. Figures for FC only go up to September 1999. From October 1999, FC was replaced by Working Families Tax Credit.
  5. 5. The figures for the Social Fund exclude people with an outstanding loan, which they are not currently repaying.

Sources:

  1. 1. Income Support: Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiry, November 1999.
  2. 2. JSA (IB): Jobseeker's Allowance Quarterly Statistical Enquiry, November 1999.
  3. 3. Family Credit: Family Credit Quarterly Statistical Enquiry, August 1999 Widowed Mothers Allowance: 5 per cent. sample of Pension Strategy Computer System, March 1999.
  4. 4. Housing Benefit: Housing Benefit Management Information System, annual 1 per cent. sample inquiry, taken as at the second Thursday of May 1998.

Mr. Gerald Howarth

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many single parent households which were headed by a divorced woman were in receipt of social security benefits, excluding child benefit or its equivalent, in(a) 1970, (b) 1980 and (c) 1999; and what was the cost of such benefits in each of these years. [117533]

Angela Eagle

The information is not available in the format requested as, generally, statistics on the receipt of Social Security benefits can only be broken down into lone and couple claimants. Divorced claimants are not separately identified.

Such information as is available is as follows. In 1980, of 316,000 lone parents claiming Supplementary Benefit, 109,000 were recorded as being female divorced claimants with dependants. In May 1994, 161,000 female lone parents were divorced (17 per cent. of all female lone parents). Since May 1994 divorced claimants have not been separately identified in Income Support statistics.

Sources:

  1. 1. 1994: Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiry, May 1994.
  2. 2. 1980: Supplementary Benefit Annual Statistical Enquiry.
  3. 3. Caseloads have been rounded to the nearest 1,000.