[GB] Households Below Average Income

Full name of the series in original language

Households Below Average Income

Abstract

Households Below Average Income (HBAI) uses household disposable incomes, after adjusting for the household size and composition, as a proxy for material living standards. More precisely, it is a proxy for the level of consumption of goods and services that people could attain given the disposable income of the household in which they live. The main source of data used in this study is the Family Resources Survey, which is a continuous cross-sectional survey. In order to allow comparisons of the living standards of different types of households, income is adjusted to take into account variations in the size and composition of the households in a process known as equivalisation. A key assumption made in HBAI is that all individuals in the household benefit equally from the combined income of the household. This enables the total equivalised income of the household to be used as a proxy for the standard of living of each household member. HBAI allows for changes in income patterns to be analysed over time. An earlier HBAI study, Institute for Fiscal Studies Households Below Average Income Dataset, 1961-1991, is held at the Archive under SN 3300.

For the eighth edition (October 2014), data files for the years 2002/03 to 2011/12 were updated following revision of the grossing methodology within the Family Resources Survey (FRS) to take account of the 2011 Census mid-year population estimates. Also data for 2012/13 were added to the study and the documentation updated accordingly.

Geographic coverage

United Kingdom

Time method

Time Series

Time period

1994 => 2013

Types of available microdata

Consistency type

Access mode

Update date

15/09/2021