HC Deb 29 March 1999 vol 328 cc523-5W
Mr. Field

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of households receive their main

No information on retail prices as such is available. The tables show the relative prices of these goods across EU countries expressed as an index. The figures shown relate prices in the EU member states to the average for the EU (shown as 100). For the years 1992 and 1993, the EU average is based on EU 12, though results for Sweden, Austria and Finland are included in the table, while the average for following years is based on EU 15.

There is no suitable aggregate for personal computers covering the years requested. 'Personal Transport Equipment' includes cars and motor and pedal bicycles, with cars making up by far the largest part of expenditure on these items. 'Household Appliances and Repairs' includes large domestic appliances, such as cookers and refrigerators, but excludes small electrical goods, such as toasters.

The figures are intended to provide a snapshot rather than a time series. Discontinuities between years arise as a result of changes in the data used (the goods for which prices are collected in one year not being strictly comparable with those used in the following year) and improvements to methodology.

income from (a) work and (b) benefits for each decile of the income distribution below average income, and for each of the last 10 years. [78024]

Angela Eagle

[holding answer 22 March 1999]: The information requested is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the tables.

Percentage of households by main source of income and income decile for households below average income (before housing costs)
Equivalised income deciles
Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 All households below average income
Benefits
1994–95 69 79 74 56 32 16 55
1995–96 70 78 72 56 32 18 53
1996–97 70 77 71 55 31 17 52
Employment
1994–95 19 17 22 37 54 70 36
1995–96 19 18 24 36 53 67 38
1996–97 19 19 24 37 53 68 38
Other
1994–95 10 4 4 7 14 15 9
1995–96 9 4 4 8 15 15 9
1996–97 10 4 5 9 16 15 10

Percentage of households by main source of income and income decile for households below average income (before housing costs) Equivalised income deciles
Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 All households below average income
Benefits
1988–89 76 82 68 29 11 5 47
1990–91 75 80 68 30 15 7 47
1991–92 72 81 72 41 18 9 49
1992–93 71 80 73 51 22 11 51
1993–94 72 80 71 52 27 15 52
1994–95 73 78 71 49 27 14 51
1995–96 72 77 72 48 28 14 51
Employment
1988–89 14 15 27 58 75 80 43
1990–91 16 17 28 54 69 76 43
1991–92 16 16 25 48 66 72 41
1992–93 16 16 24 41 62 72 39
1993–94 16 15 24 40 57 70 38
1994–95 16 17 24 40 58 71 38
1995–96 17 18 24 41 57 71 39
Other
1988–89 9 3 5 13 14 15 10
1990–91 9 3 4 15 17 17 10
1991–92 11 3 3 12 16 19 10
1992–93 12 4 4 9 16 17 10
1993–94 10 5 5 8 15 15 10
1994–95 10 5 5 11 15 16 10
1995–96 10 5 4 11 15 16 10

Notes:

1. All figures are estimates and are taken from the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) data set which is based on either the Family Resources Survey (FRS-table 1) or the Family Expenditure Survey (FES-table 2). Unlike the FES, the FRS does not cover Northern Ireland.

2. FRS based HBAI data are not available prior to the financial year 1994–95. For this reason, FES based data (based on combined financial years, where 1995–96 denotes the combined financial years 1995–96 and 1996–97) back to 1988–89 have been provided as a supplementary table.

3. In previous years, HBAI data were mainly derived from the FES. Following a DSS methodological review in 1995, it was recommended that information from the FRS should be introduced into the HBAI series and that it should replace the FES as the main source of information on low-income households.

4. For the purposes of this analysis, 'main source of income' is defined as being the largest of the three sources of income outlined in the table above.

5. The income measure used is weekly net (disposable) equivalised household income (that is to say income that is adjusted to reflect the composition of the household).

6. The seventh decile (where decile one is the bottom decile) only partially falls below the average income figure; for this reason, figures relating to it have been excluded from the analysis.

7. It should be noted that the results are subject to year on year sampling variation and that more emphasis should be placed on looking at longer-term trends as opposed to annual variations.

Sources:

Family Resources Survey 1994/95–1996/97

Family Expenditure Survey 1988/89–1995/96.