§ Mr. Nigel GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in theOfficial Report a table showing individuals below various percentiles of the income distribution, before adjustment for household size and composition, analysed by economic status, using household disposable income after housing costs, in the manner of table DI of the recent DHSS publication, "Households Below Average Income: A Statistical Analysis, 1981–85".
§ Mr. Nigel GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in theOfficial Report a table showing individuals in each of the five lowest decile groups of the income distribution, before adjustment for household size and composition, analysed by economic status, using household disposable income after housing costs, in the manner of table D1 of the recent DHSS publication, "Households Below Average Income: A Statistical Analysis, 1981–85".
§ Mr. Peter Lloyd[holding answer 22 June 1988]: As explained in paragraph 1.2 of Cm. 523 "The Measurement of Living Standards For Households Below Average Income", the "Households Below Average Income" statistics are designed to provide various measures of the numbers of people with different living standards. And, as paragraphs 2.6 and 2.7 of Cm. 523 further explain, it is the Government's view that allowing for the size and composition of households is an essential part of this process.
Nevertheless, the "Households Below Average Income" statistics can be adjusted so that they do not take account of household size and composition. One such approach is to assume that all households with a given income achieve the same standard of living. In other words, a household composed of two adults and several children is assumed to achieve the same living standard from an income of £100 as a household including only one adult and no children. Alternatively, in order to give some recognition to household size (if not to composition), each individual within each household can be given equal weight. This per capita approach carries with it the 296W implication that, in order to achieve the same living standard, a baby must consume the same resources as an adult.
Although neither of these approaches is meaningful, and although the methods of both these approaches is inconsistent with the objectives of the "Households Below Average Income" statistics, figures on both bases for table D1 have been put in the Library. The Government have no doubt that equivalisation is necessary to the measurement of living standards.