WW2 evacuees- financial arrangements

[bykerlads]

What were the arrangements for evacuee children as regards money for food and clothes etc?
They would have had their own ration card but who paid for their food and others essentials?
Most would have been housed in ordinary households which could not have afforded to feed and clothe them.
Did their own parents have to send money?
What happened if their parents died or disappeared or didn't send money?

[stanmapstone]

The billetor received received 10s. 6d. from the government for taking a child. Another 8s. 6d. per head was paid if the billetor took more than one. For mothers and infants, the billetor provided lodging only at a cost of 5s. Per adult and 3s. per child. http://spartacus-educational.com/2WWevacuation.htm

Stan

[stanmapstone]

From May 31st 1940 the allowances were : Between 10 and 14 years of age 10s 6d per week; between 14 and 16 years 12s 6d; over 16 years 15s. From July 1st 1944 for children over 5 the scale was increased by 1s a week, and the allowance for those under 5 was 10s 6d a week irrespective of the number of children received.

Stan

[bykerlads]

Thank you for that information, Stan.
It is possible to know how the amounts of money from the government compared to the average earnings and to the actual cost of feeding a child?

[stanmapstone]

There are a lot of complaints in the newspapers that the allowance was not sufficient, and also did not cover clothes and shoes.


Stan

[bykerlads]

Thanks, Stan.
I suppose the real parents were expected to send clothes and shoes and some money for food.
My father's foster brother was an evacuee who came in 1940 and was never claimed back or even contacted by his parents. No one ever knew what had happened to them. He stayed in our family.
The system of payments from the government would have  meant that he was able to do this. The family was not well off and would otherwise have not been able to afford to keep him.
By the end of the war he was 14 and of working age, so would have been able to contribute to his upkeep.
He always said that he wanted to stay with his new family and his birth family were never found- probably victims of the London Blitz.