I thank the noble Baroness for her question. This is clearly an immensely complicated issue. The figures that I am using are from the Centre for Social Justice. They are average figures, which take account of all the benefits and credits. As I say, I think that the figure is roughly £1,300. The point is that the benefit to the couple is material; it is based on the difference between the actual costs of living as a couple and the actual costs of living separately. It certainly seems to be the most reliable calculation that I have seen in the research that I have read. It is the real penalty of the system.
Child Poverty Bill
Proceeding contribution from
Lord Freud
(Conservative)
in the House of Lords on Tuesday, 9 March 2010.
It occurred during Debate on bills on Child Poverty Bill.
Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
718 c171 
Session
2009-10
Chamber / Committee
House of Lords chamber
Subjects
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Timestamp
2024-04-21 20:02:00 +0100
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