asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) whether his proposed new income support rates will be less for married parents under 25 years of age than for lone parents;(2) if he will ensure that the rates of his proposed new income support system do not penalise two-parent families by comparison with lone parents.
Decisions on the rates of income support that would apply have not yet been taken, but in deciding
| Number of working families at various income levels—(Great Britain, 1981) | |||||||||
| Thousands | |||||||||
| Number of dependent children | |||||||||
| Gross weekly income excluding state benefits | Total | One parent families | Two parent families | One wage families | Two wage families | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 or more |
| Under £80 | 310 | 90 | 220 | 290 | 20 | 150 | 100 | 60 | 10 |
| £80–89 | 150 | 40 | 120 | 140 | 10 | 60 | 60 | 20 | 10 |
| £90–99 | 240 | 30 | 210 | 200 | 40 | 100 | 110 | 20 | 10 |
| £100–109 | 300 | 30 | 280 | 220 | 90 | 110 | 130 | 40 | 20 |
| £110–119 | 270 | 30 | 250 | 190 | 90 | 100 | 130 | 30 | 10 |
| £120–129 | 380 | 20 | 360 | 210 | 170 | 170 | 160 | 30 | 20 |
| £130–139 | 370 | 10 | 360 | 190 | 180 | 150 | 140 | 60 | 20 |
| £140–149 | 340 | 10 | 330 | 180 | 170 | 140 | 160 | 30 | 10 |
| £150–159 | 330 | * | 330 | 170 | 170 | 150 | 150 | 30 | 10 |
| £160–169 | 330 | * | 330 | 130 | 200 | 140 | 130 | 50 | 20 |
| £170–179 | 320 | 10 | 310 | 100 | 220 | 130 | 150 | 40 | 10 |
| £180–189 | 240 | 10 | 240 | 90 | 150 | 70 | 130 | 40 | * |
| £190–199 | 270 | — | 270 | 100 | 160 | 120 | 110 | 20 | 10 |
| £200–219 | 430 | 20 | 420 | 130 | 300 | 160 | 220 | 50 | * |
| £220–239 | 320 | — | 320 | 130 | 190 | 120 | 150 | 50 | 10 |
| £240–259 | 270 | — | 270 | 90 | 180 | 130 | 100 | 20 | 10 |
the balance between rates for different groups we will take account of the considerations referred to by my hon. Friend.
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will ensure that his proposed income support system does; not penalise married and cohabiting couples by comparison with single people of opposite sexes sharing accommodation, and by comparison with divorced or separated married couples.
We expect that the current rules governing the circumstances in which claimants are treated as living together would continue to apply under the proposed income support scheme.