§ Mr. AlexanderTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many children in the U.K. were living in families dependent on supplementary benefits or income support(a) in total and (b) as a proportion of all children in the UK in each year since 1979. [144465]
§ Mr. BayleyThe information is in the table.
Children in families receiving Supplementary Benefit/Income Support/Jobseeker's Allowance (income-based), Great Britain 1979 to 2000 Number of children (000s) Proportion of children under 16 in Great Britain (percentage) 1979 923.1 7.3 1980 1,088.3 8.8 1981 1,493.4 12.3 1982 1,721.4 14.5 1983 1,789.5 15.4 1984 1,949.0 17.0 1985 1,949.0 17.0 1986 2,122.5 18.9 1987 2,111.4 18.9 1988 2,091.8 18.8 1989 2,029.6 18.2 1990 2,044.8 18.2 1991 2,368.1 20.9 1992 2,702.9 23.6 1993 2,966.0 25.7 1994 2,980.3 25.6 1995 2,957.5 25.3 1996 2,918.2 25.0 1997 2,718.3 23.2 1998 2,539.3 21.7 1999 2,472.8 21.1 2000 (May) 2,389.1 20.4 2000 (August) 2,378.9 20.3 Notes:
1. Numbers are given at a point in time. For 1979 the month is November, 1980 to 1984 the month is December, 1986 the month is February, and from 1987 to 1999 the month is May. Two sets of information is given for 2000: May (in line with data from 1987, and August which is the latest available data).
2. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest hundred and are expressed in thousands. Percentages are given to one decimal place.
3. Numbers are not available for 1985 due to industrial action.
4. Income Support replaced Supplementary Benefit in April 1988.
5. Children of unemployed Supplementary Benefit/Income Support claimants are included in the figures up to 1996. Income Support for the unemployed was replaced by income-based Jobseeker's Allowance from October 1996; children of income-based Jobseeker's Allowance claimants have been added to figures from 1997 onwards.
6. Children are defined as aged 0–15.
7. Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance cases will include some claimants with an underlying entitlement to contribution-based benefit.
610W8. Numbers are based on sample data and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling error. Samples sizes are as follows:
1979 to 1981: 1 in 200 (Supplementary pension cases), 1 in 50 (Supplementary Allowances)
1982 to 1987: 1 in 200 (Supplementary pension cases), 1 in 100 (E cases), 1 in 50 (Supplementary Allowances)
1988 to 1993: 1 in 100
1994 to date: 1 in 20
Source:
Supplementary Benefit Statistics Annual Enquiries, 1979 to 1987
Income Support Statistics Annual Enquiries, 1988 to 1993
Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiries, May 1994 to August 2000
Jobseeker's Allowance Statistics Quarterly Enquiries, May 1997, May 1998, May 1999, May 2000 and August 2000