(2) how many families there were with incomes of less than (a) 30 per cent., (b) 40 per cent., (c) 50 per cent. and (d) 60 per cent. of median earnings in each year since 1997;
(3) how many pensioners there were with incomes of less than (a) 30 per cent., (b) 40 per cent., (c) 50 per cent. and (d) 60 per cent. of median earnings in each year since 1997.
The most common and internationally recognised threshold to measure relative 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 sound measure of poverty. This is because households stating the lowest incomes to the Family Resources Survey may not actually have the lowest living standards. Some people who report very low incomes appear to have high spending. Hence any statistics on numbers in this group may be misleading.
The sample size for the number of households having an income below 30 per cent. of median is too small to yield reliable results.
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 tables.
£ millions Before housing costs After housing costs 40% 50% 60% 40% 50% 60% 1996-97 0.6 1.8 3.4 1.4 3.2 4.3 1997-98 0.7 1.8 3.4 1.4 3.1 4.2 1998-99 0.7 1.8 3.4 1.5 3.1 4.4 1999-2000 0.7 1.7 3.4 1.4 3.0 4.3 2000-01 0.7 1.6 3.1 1.3 2.8 4.1 2001-02 0.7 1.5 3.0 1.3 2.6 4.0 2002-03 0.7 1.5 2.9 1.3 2.6 3.9 2003-04 0.7 1.4 2.9 1.3 2.5 3.7 2004-05 0.7 1.4 2.7 1.3 2.3 3.6 2005-06 0.7 1.4 2.8 1.3 2.5 3.8
£ millions Before housing costs After housing costs 40% 50% 60% 40% 50% 60% 1996-97 1.3 3.0 5.4 2.6 4.6 7.3 1997-98 1.5 3.1 5.5 2.5 4.5 7.0 1998-99 1.4 3.1 5.4 2.4 4.5 7.0 1999-2000 1.5 3.1 5.5 2.6 4.6 7.0 2000-01 1.6 3.2 5.5 2.6 4.4 6.8 2001-02 1.5 3.1 5.4 2.5 4.3 6.6 2002-03 1.6 3.3 5.6 2.7 4.5 6.8 2003-04 1.7 3.3 5.5 2.8 4.4 6.5 2004-05 1.6 3.1 5.4 2.7 4.2 6.2 2005-06 1.8 3.3 5.6 2.9 4.6 6.7
£ millions Before housing costs After housing costs 40% 50% 60% 40% 50% 60% 1996-97 0.4 1.3 2.4 0.5 1.2 2.9 1997-98 0.5 1.3 2.5 0.5 1.3 2.9 1998-99 0.5 1.5 2.8 0.5 1.4 2.9 1999-2000 0.5 1.4 2.6 0.5 1.3 2.8 2000-01 0.5 1.4 2.6 0.5 1.2 2.7 2001-02 0.5 1.4 2.6 0.5 1.2 2.7 2002-03 0.5 1.4 2.5 0.5 1.1 2.5 2003-04 0.5 1.3 2.4 0.5 1.0 2.2 2004-05 0.4 1.2 2.3 0.5 0.9 1.9 2005-06 0.5 1.2 2.2 0.5 0.9 1.8
£ millions Before housing costs After housing costs 40% 50% 60% 40% 50% 60% 1996-97 5 14 27 11 25 34 1997-98 5 14 27 11 25 33 1998-99 5 14 26 11 24 34 1999-2000 5 13 26 11 23 33 2000-01 6 12 23 10 21 31 2001-02 5 11 23 10 20 31 2002-03 6 11 23 10 20 30 2003-04 5 11 22 10 19 29 2004-05 5 11 21 10 18 28 2005-06 6 11 22 10 19 30
£ millions Before Housing Costs After Housing Costs 40% 50% 60% 40% 50% 60% 1996-97 4 10 19 9 16 25 1997-98 5 11 19 9 16 24 1998-99 5 10 19 8 15 24 1999-2000 5 11 19 9 15 24 2000-01 5 11 18 9 15 23 2001-02 5 11 18 8 14 22 2002-03 5 11 18 9 15 22 2003-04 5 11 18 9 14 21 2004-05 5 10 17 9 13 20 2005-06 6 10 18 9 14 21
£ millions Before housing costs After housing costs 40% 50% 60% 40% 50% 60% 1996-97 4 13 25 5 13 29 1997-98 5 13 25 5 13 29 1998-99 5 14 27 5 13 29 1999-2000 5 14 25 5 13 28 2000-01 5 13 25 5 11 26 2001-02 5 14 25 5 11 26 2002-03 5 13 24 5 11 24 2003-04 5 12 23 5 10 21 2004-05 4 11 21 4 8 18 2005-06 5 11 21 4 8 17 Notes: 1. Figures in tables 1, 3, 4 and 6 correspond to Great Britain for 1996-97 and 1997-98 and correspond to the United Kingdom for other years. Estimates for Northern Ireland have been imputed for the years 1998-99 through to 2001-02. 2. Figures in table 2 and 5 correspond to Great Britain from 1996-97 to 2001-02, and correspond to the United Kingdom for later years. It is not possible to impute estimates for Northern Ireland for families for 1998-99 to 2001-02. 3. The reference period for Family Resources Survey (FRS) figures is single financial years. 4. 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, adjusted/equivalised for household size and composition, as a proxy for standard of living. This uses the OECD equivalence scale for all years in the series. 5. The Government's preferred measure of relative low income poverty is 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. 6. This response includes a lower income threshold of 40 per cent. of the contemporary median income. The data for families with an income lower than 50 per cent. of median is not considered to be accurate as an indicator of living standards. Many of these households while having very low incomes would not be considered poor, but who do genuinely have few sources of income in the short-run. These figures are not national statistics and caution must be applied because those people stating the lowest incomes in the FRS may not actually have the lowest living standards. 7. 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. 8. A family is defined as a single adult or couple living as married and any dependent children. 9. Numbers in the tables have been presented in millions, rounded to the nearest 100,000 people.