HC Deb 14 October 1996 vol 282 cc764-5W
Ms Corston

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 21 June,Official Report, column 635, if he will list the distribution of income by decile group in each year from 1979 to 1992–93, including the self-employed, as in table A 1 in the households below average income report for 1995 (a) unadjusted and (b) adjusted in accordance with the statistical practice of correcting for variations in FES response which he reports to his Department has applied to this series of low income surveys. [40204]

Mr. Andrew Mitchell

The information is as follows:

(b) Adjusted
Before housing costs
Decile group medians Total population (mean)
Decile 1 bottom 10 per cent. Decile 2 10–20 per cent. Decile 3 20–30 per cent. Decile 4 30–40 per cent. Decile 5 40–50 per cent.
1979 90 113 131 150 168 198
1992–93 90 122 147 174 206 269
Percentage change (0) (8) 12 16 23 36
After housing costs
Decile group medians Total population (mean)
Decile 1 bottom 10 per cent. Decile 2 10–20 per cent. Decile 3 20–30 per cent. Decile 4 30–40 per cent. Decile 5 40–50 per cent.
1979 75 96 112 129 146 171
1992–93 62 96 119 148 180 235
Percentage change (-18) (0) (6) 15 23 37
1. Incomes are £ per week equivalised at March 1995 prices.
2. Estimates in brackets () are particularly uncertain.

Ms Corston

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what were the factors taken into account in postponing publication from July to November of the households below average income report. [40152]

Mr. Mitchell

The later publication this year of households below average income—HBAI—is due to several factors. The first is that the family expenditure survey has moved from a calender year to a financial year basis. As a natural consequence, the FES data was available to the Department of Social Security nearly three months later than in the previous year. Last year's HBAI reported on the period ending December 1993; this year's will report on the period ending March 1995. In the current round of HBAI preparation, DSS analysts have undertaken additional tasks: principally, a review of methodology and the preparation of data from the family resources survey on which future editions of HBAI will be based. The processing of the FRS data, which became available in the spring, for HBAI analysis has been a substantial piece of work which is still in progress. The HBAI will be published as soon as the analysis is complete, which we expect to be in mid-November.