Mr Major’s Written Parliamentary Answer on Family Expenditure – 10 April 1987

Below is the text of Mr Major’s written Parliamentary Answer on Family Expenditure on 10th April 1987.

Mr. Meacher Asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what were the average expenditures per week on food for the following supplementary benefit claimants as recorded by the family expenditure survey of 1979 (a) an adult, (b) a person 16 to 17 years old, (c) a child of 11 to 15 years old, and (d) a child under 11 years old.

Mr. Major Data in the family expenditure surveys relate to expenditure by the household as a whole and cannot be allocated to individual members, for example dependent children. In the 1979 survey, the average recorded expenditure on food of one-adult households in receipt of supplementary benefit was £8.10. Sample data in respect of 16 to 17-year-old claimants living alone are insufficient to provide a reliable estimate.