§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the weekly income thresholds, both before housing costs and after housing costs, against which they have determined that the proportion of working age adults on absolute low incomes is at its lowest since 1996–97; and [HL1253]
How many working age adults were in absolute poverty in each year for which figures are available; and [HL1254]
What are the weekly income thresholds, both before housing costs and after housing costs, which determine the numbers of working age adults living in absolute poverty in each year from 1979. [HL1255]
§ Baroness Hollis of HeighamPoverty is about more than low income; it also impacts on the way people live—their health, housing and the quality of their environment. The sixth annual"Opportunity for all" report (Cm 6239), published in September 2004, sets out the Government's strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion and presents information on the indicators used to measure progress against this strategy.
Further information regarding low income is available in Households Below Average Income 1994/95–2002/03. Copies of the publication are available in the Library.
The most commonly used measure of "absolute" low income is the percentage of individuals living in households with incomes below 60 per cent of 1996–97 national median income—that is, an income level which has been held constant in real terms.
194WAInformation regarding numbers of working age adults in low income is in the table.
The number and proportion of working-age adults living in households with incomes below 60 per cent median held constant in real terms.
Before Housing Cost After Housing Cost Number (million) Percentage Family Expenditure Survey (UK) Number (million) Percentage 1979 6.0 19 6.7 22 1981 7.1 22 7.7 24 1987 6.4 19 7.4 22 1988–89 5.8 17 6.5 19 1990–91 5.6 17 6.6 20 1991–92 6.0 18 7.2 21 1992–93 6.0 18 7.4 22 1993–94 5.5 16 6.9 20 1994–95 5.1 15 6.7 20 1995–96 5.1 15 6.8 20
Before Housing Cost After Housing Cost Number (million) Percentage Family Resources Survey (GB) Number (million) Percentage 1994–95 5.3 16 7.0 21 1995–96 5.0 15 7.0 21 1996–97 4.9 15 6.8 21 1997–98 4.7 14 6.4 19 1998–99 4.4 13 6.2 18 1999–00 4.1 12 5.9 17 2000–01 3.8 11 5.4 16 2001–02 3.3 10 4.8 14 2002–03 3.3 10 4.6 13 Notes:
1. Family Expenditure Survey (FES) figures are for the United Kingdom.
2. Family Resources Survey (FRS) figures are for Great Britain.
3. The reference period for FRS figures is single financial years. FES figures are single calendar years from 1979–87, two combined calendar years from 1998–89 to 1992–93 and two financial years combined from 1993–94 to 1995–96.
4. Income definitions differ slightly between the two series.
For all FRS years 1994–95 to 2002–03, the level of absolute low income was estimated as £166 per week for the before housing costs (BHC) measure, and £142 for the after housing costs (AHC) in average 2002–03 prices after adjustment for inflation, and was estimated using reported values from respondents to the 1996–97 FRS.
The estimated equivalent level for all FES years was £168 per week BHC, and £143 per week AHC, in 2002–03 prices, and was estimated using results reported from the 1995–96 and 1996–97 FES.
Over the period 1979 to 2002–03, the proportion of working-age adults experiencing low income using this measure was at its lowest in 2002–03 both BHC and AHC. The statement is true for other thresholds of median and mean income, with the exception of the 40 per cent mean threshold BHC, for which there was a slight, although not statistically significant, increase between 2001–02 and 2002–03. However low-income levels on this 195WA threshold remained lower in 2002–03 than in the mid to late nineties.