§ Chris RuaneTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average household income was for the poorest 10 per cent. of the population(a) in real terms and (b) as percentage increase in each year of the last 15 years. [16101]
§ Malcolm Wicks[holding answer 19 November 2001]: Such information as is available is in the table.
Money value of bottom decile median (£ per week) in December 2000 prices Year Before housing costs After housing costs Family expenditure survey (FES) 1987 109 82 1988–89 107 79 1990–91 103 73 1991–92 104 70 1992–93 105 69 1993–94 110 74 1994–95 115 78 1995–96 117 77 Family resources survey (FRS) 1994–95 112 67 1995–96 112 72 1996–97 115 74 1997–98 113 72 1998–99 116 79 1999–2000 118 79 Notes:
1. The derivation of year on year percentage change in income levels from the above data is not recommended due to the fact that sampling variation for any individual year is large in relation to year on year change.
2. All figures are estimates. There is evidence to suggest that the poorest 10 per cent. of the population as defined by their income may not be the poorest 10 per cent. in terms of living standards.
3. Data are not available for each year of the period requested-with the financial year 1999–2000 being the latest data available.
4. Results from the Family Resources Survey have been available only since 1994–95. Prior to that the Family Expenditure Survey was used as the data source for the Households Below Average Incomes (HBAI) series. Due to differences in the methodology employed in both the collection and analysis of data from both surveys, the figures presented above are not directly comparable across the two surveys.
5. FRS data are presented on a financial year basis. FES data for 1987 are presented on a single calendar year basis, that for 1988–89 to 1992–93 on a two-year combined calendar year basis and 1993–94 to 1995–96 on a two-year combined financial year basis where, for example, "1995–96" denotes the financial years 1995–96 and 1996–97 combined. The coverage of the FRS is Great Britain only, as it excludes Northern Ireland, while that of the FES is the whole of the United Kingdom.
6. The monetary values presented are rounded to the nearest pound and are equivalised. That is to say that incomes are adjusted to take into account both the size and composition of the household to allow fair comparisons between different family types. The incomes presented above relate to the actual incomes of a couple with no children, which is used as the benchmark for equivalisation in HBAI.
7. As is standard HBAI convention, figures are presented on both a Before and After Housing Costs basis, in order to take into account variations in housing costs between households that do not necessarily reflect equivalent variations in the quality of housing.