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Mr. Wm. Ross
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing the value of unemployment benefit for a married man with two children aged 11 years and 7 years at 1st April 1950, 1st April 1960, 1st April 1970 and 1st April 1978 if the value of the £ sterling was taken as 100 at 1st April 1950, together with, for comparison, the cost of living index for those dates taking the index as 100 at 1st April 1950.
Mr. Orme
To enable a reliable comparison to be made, the information given below has been set out in a slightly different form from that requested.
| UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT FOR MARRIED MAN WITH TWO CHILDREN AGED 7 AND 11 YEARS | |||
| 1. Unemployment benefit without family allowance/child benefit | |||
| Date | Actual rate | Rate in terms of April 1950 prices* | Index of real Value of benefit (April 1950 equals 100) |
| £ | £ | ||
| 1st April 1950 | 2·475 | 2·475 | 100·0 |
| 1st April 1960 | 5·10 | 3·43 | 138·6 |
| 1st April 1970 | 10·30 | 4·68 | 189·1 |
| 1st April 1978 | 28·20 | 4·77 | 192·7 |
| 2. Unemployment benefit with family allowance/child benefit | |||
| Date | Actual rate | Rate in terms of April 1950 prices* | Index of real Value of benefit (April 1950 equals 100) |
| 1st April 1950 | 2·725 | 2·725 | 100·0 |
| 1st April 1960 | 5·50 | 3·70 | 135·8 |
| 1st April 1970 | 11·20 | 5·09 | 186·8 |
| 1st April 1978 | 32·80 | 5·55 | 203·7 |
| * Based on movement in general index of retail prices. | |||