The most common and internationally recognised threshold to measure poverty is income below 60 per cent. of median. We do not present information covering 40 per cent. of median income in our Households Below Average Income series as it is not a good measure of poverty. This is because households stating the lowest incomes to the family resources survey (FRS) may not actually have the lowest living standards. Many people who report very low incomes appear to have high spending. Hence any statistics on numbers in this group may be misleading.
Specific information regarding low income for the United Kingdom is available in "Households Below Average Income 1994-95 to 2005-06". This annual report, which is a National Statistics publication, includes the numbers and proportions of individuals, children, working age adults and pensioners with incomes below 50 per cent., 60 per cent. and 70 per cent. of median income, and the proportions in persistent poverty.
Available information is shown in the following table.
Before Housing Costs After Housing Costs Number (million) Percentage Number (million) Per cent 1979 1.0 2 1.3 2 1981 1.1 2 1.5 3 1987 1.5 3 2.8 5 1988-89 2.4 4 3.9 7 1990-91 3.1 5 4.7 8 1991-92 2.9 5 4.8 9 1992-93 2.9 5 5.0 9 1993-95 2.6 5 5.0 9 1994-96 2.4 4 5.0 9 1995-97 2.4 4 5.2 9 1994-95 2.3 4 4.6 8 1995-96 2.3 4 4.2 8 1996-97 2.4 4 4.9 9 1997-98 2.7 5 4.8 9 1998-99 2.7 5 4.8 8 1999-00 2.9 5 4.9 9 2000-01 3.0 5 4.9 8 2001-02 2.8 5 4.6 8 2002-03 3.0 5 4.9 8 2003-04 3.0 5 5.0 9 2004-05 2.9 5 4.9 8 2005-06 3.2 5 5.2 9 Sources: 1. 1979 to 1997: Family Expenditure Survey (UK) 2. 1994 to 1998: Family Resources Survey (GB) 3. 1998 to 2006: Family Resources Survey (UK)
Available information is shown in the following table.
Million Before housing costs After housing costs 1994-95 1.2 1.8 1995-96 1.0 1.6 1996-97 1.2 1.8 1997-98 1.1 1.6 1998-99 1.0 1.6 1999-2000 1.1 1.6 2000-01 1.1 1.5 2001-02 1.1 1.5 2002-03 1.2 1.7 2003-04 1.1 1.7 2004-05 1.2 1.7 2005-06 1.4 2.0 Notes: 1. Data are not available from this source for 1989-90 to1993-94. 2. The information shown is for the United Kingdom from 2002-03 onwards. Earlier years are Great Britain only. 3. The income measures used to derive the estimates shown employ the same methodology as the Department for Work and Pensions publication ‘Households Below Average Income’ series, which uses disposable household income, equivalised for household size and composition, as a proxy for standard of living using the OECD equivalence scale. 4. This response uses the Government's preferred measure of relative low income poverty, defined as being in a household with a household income of less than 60 per cent. of the contemporary median income. This is an internationally recognised measure. 5. Figures have been presented on both a before housing cost and after housing cost basis. For before housing cost, housing costs (such as rent, water rates, mortgage interest payments, structural insurance payments and ground rent and service charges) are not deducted from income, while for after housing cost they are. This means that after housing cost incomes will generally be lower than before housing cost. 6. Amounts in the tables have been presented in millions, rounded to the nearest 100,000 people. Source: Family Resources Survey, 1994-95 to 2005-06.