Memoranda presented to the Royal Commission.

  • Great Britain. Royal Commission on Population.
Date:
1950
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Memoranda presented to the Royal Commission. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    36/128 (page 30)
    of 7s. 2d. for food, 1s. 6d. for clothing, and 4d. for fuel, light and other expenses. The variation of the estimated subsistence cost with the age of the child may be seen in Table XXIII below. TABLE XXIII Subsistence Cost of a Child at 1945 Prices Age of Child Subsistence Cost i S. di: Under 5 Lie ae 6 10 5-9 . ig 9 2 10-13 i. ay 10 9 14 3 “ay {i 7 Average ae ng p a) 83. In using the figure of 9s. it is necessary to keep in mind several qualifications. 1. Prices will almost certainly settle down at a level higher than that of 1945. Food prices, which chiefly determine the estimate, rose by over 25 per cent. between 1945 and the end of 1949; and these prices are heavily affected by subsidies. 2. The figure of 9s. makes no allowance for rent. Parents in the lower income ranges economise on rent as the size of their family increases. 3. The figure of 9s. takes no account of services(*). (b) Existing Payments in Respect of Children 84. It is of interest to compare with the minimum subsistence costs, as thus estimated, the provisions in fact made by government departments for certain categories of children. According to the Curtis Committee on the Care of Children the total allowances paid to foster parents by local authori- ties working under the Home Office averaged about 16s. a week in 1946(*). These payments should, according to the committee, “cover the cost of maintaining the child” but not “include an element of remuneration”. The committee themselves recommended that a clothing allowance of not less than £12 a year should be included in the allowance to foster parents. It will be recalled that the present rate of general family allowance for all needs, of which clothing is only a small part, is 5s. a week, which amounts to £13 per annum. 85. Secondly, it is of interest to refer to the revised scales of payments for dependent children under 16 years to persons receiving National Assistance. Under the present scales the payments are as follows :— Sy di Children under 5... AE, Ae ie aes Ti: 6 3g S=11 oe Yen ae m. ae 9 O Bi 11-16 a7 ee a ih e: 10) 6 (‘) The value of the services provided is rapidly changing. The government is at present engaged on an expansion of services (especially school meals) which already provides about 2s. per child per week and is expected eventually to provide more than 3s. (7) Cmd. 6922, August, 1946. These allowances usually vary with age.