State support
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- 1. Navigate toMain facts and figures section
- 2. Navigate toThings you need to know section
- 3. Navigate to By ethnicity and type of support section
- 4. Navigate to By ethnicity over time section
- 5. Navigate to By ethnicity and type of non-income related benefit section
- 6. Navigate to By ethnicity and type of income-related benefit section
- 7. Navigate to By ethnicity (tax credits only) section
- 8. Navigate toData sources section
- 9. Navigate toDownload the data section
1. Main facts and figures
- in the 3 years to March 2019, 53% of families in the UK received some type of state support, such as the State Pension or Child Benefit
- White British families were the most likely to receive state support and Chinese families were the least likely to
- White British families were also the most likely to receive non-income related benefits, such as the State Pension
- families from the Bangladeshi and Black ethnic groups were the most likely to receive income-related benefits, such as help with the cost of housing
- since March 2009, the percentage of families getting state support has fallen for all ethnic groups except the Chinese and Asian Other groups, for which it has remained broadly stable
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data measures the financial support that families receive from the state, by ethnicity.
A family is defined as a single adult or a married or cohabiting couple, plus any dependent children. The figures include families of all ages, including pensioners.
Percentages are given to the nearest whole number. Due to this rounding, some figures may not add up to 100.
Not included in the data
The data does not include:
- people who live in communal accommodation (for example, care homes)
- people with no fixed address (for example, homeless people)
The ethnic groups used in the data
The data uses the ethnic categories from the 2011 Census.
Because of differences in the way ethnicity data is collected in the UK, data is aggregated for each of the Black, Mixed and Other ethnic groups, which means estimates are shown for these groups as a whole. Data is shown separately for White British people and all other White people (‘White Other’ ethnic group).
Some households contain people from different ethnic backgrounds. The ethnicity assigned to the household is that of the head of the household (usually the person with the highest income). The data does not account for people of different ethnic backgrounds who live in the same household.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document (PDF opens in a new window or tab) for this data.
Because the data varies from year to year, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) takes 3 years’ worth of data and works out the average for that period. This is to make sure there are enough survey respondents to be able to make reliable generalisations. You can find out more about combining multiple years of data to create reliable estimates.
Responses are weighted on the basis of regional population totals by age and sex to give estimates for the entire UK household population. You can read more about how weighting is used to make survey data more representative of the group it is about.
The figures on this page are based on survey data. Find out more about interpreting survey data, including how reliability is affected by the number of people surveyed.
3. By ethnicity and type of support
| Ethnicity | Any state support | Any tax credits | Any income-related benefit | Any non-income-related benefit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | |
| All | 53 | 9 | 17 | 50 |
| Asian | 45 | 15 | 16 | 41 |
| Bangladeshi | 49 | 25 | 30 | 46 |
| Chinese | 31 | 6 | 11 | 26 |
| Indian | 41 | 7 | 8 | 38 |
| Pakistani | 51 | 23 | 20 | 46 |
| Asian other | 47 | 16 | 18 | 41 |
| Black | 53 | 16 | 28 | 45 |
| Mixed | 42 | 13 | 21 | 37 |
| White | 54 | 8 | 16 | 51 |
| White British | 56 | 8 | 17 | 53 |
| White other | 36 | 9 | 11 | 34 |
| Other | 40 | 13 | 18 | 36 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and type of support’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and type of support’ (CSV)
Summary of State support By ethnicity and type of support Summary
The data shows that, in the 3 years to March 2019:
- on average, 53% of families received some kind of state support
- White British families (56%) were the most likely out of all ethnic groups to receive state support – families from the Chinese ethnic group (31%) were the least likely to
- families from the Bangladeshi ethnic group were the most likely to receive a tax credit (25%) or income-related benefit (30%) – families from the Chinese ethnic group were the least likely (6% and 11%)
- White British families were the most likely to receive a non-income related benefit, including the State Pension (53%) – families from the Chinese ethnic group were the least likely to (26%)
- on average, all families were more likely to receive a non-income related benefit (50%) than an income-related benefit (17%) or a tax credit (9%)
4. By ethnicity over time
| Ethnicity | 2009/10-2011/12 | 2010/11-2012/13 | 2011/12-2013/14 | 2012/13-2014/15 | 2013/14-2015/16 | 2014/15-2016/17 | 2015/16-2017/18 | 2016/17-2018/19 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| All | 62 | 61 | 60 | 58 | 57 | 56 | 55 | 53 |
| Asian | 49 | 50 | 50 | 49 | 48 | 47 | 46 | 45 |
| Bangladeshi | 53 | 52 | 59 | 55 | 56 | 56 | 54 | 49 |
| Chinese | 29 | 29 | 31 | 30 | 30 | 32 | 33 | 31 |
| Indian | 48 | 48 | 48 | 47 | 46 | 45 | 43 | 41 |
| Pakistani | 56 | 59 | 57 | 57 | 53 | 53 | 52 | 51 |
| Asian other | 48 | 51 | 49 | 49 | 44 | 45 | 47 | 47 |
| Black | 58 | 60 | 59 | 58 | 54 | 55 | 53 | 53 |
| Mixed | 49 | 47 | 46 | 44 | 45 | 44 | 45 | 42 |
| White | 63 | 62 | 61 | 59 | 58 | 57 | 56 | 54 |
| White British | 64 | 63 | 62 | 60 | 59 | 58 | 57 | 56 |
| White other | 48 | 47 | 46 | 45 | 42 | 39 | 37 | 36 |
| Other | 55 | 53 | 52 | 49 | 49 | 44 | 42 | 40 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV)
Summary of State support By ethnicity over time Summary
The data shows that, in the time period covered by this data:
- on average, the percentage of families receiving state support went down from 62% to 53%
- the percentage of families receiving state support within the Chinese ethnic group went up from 29% to 31%
- all other ethnic groups saw a fall in the percentage of families receiving state support
5. By ethnicity and type of non-income related benefit
| Ethnicity | Child Benefit | State Pension | Disability Living Allowance (care component) | Disability Living Allowance (mobility component) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | |
| All | 19 | 24 | 8 | 6 |
| Asian | 27 | 9 | 5 | 3 |
| Bangladeshi | 33 | 7 | 8 | 4 |
| Chinese | 16 | 8 | 1 | withheld to protect confidentiality |
| Indian | 21 | 12 | 4 | 2 |
| Pakistani | 33 | 6 | 7 | 5 |
| Asian other | 29 | 7 | 2 | 2 |
| Black | 29 | 11 | 6 | 4 |
| Mixed | 23 | 7 | 6 | 4 |
| White | 18 | 27 | 8 | 6 |
| White British | 17 | 28 | 8 | 7 |
| White other | 22 | 8 | 3 | 2 |
| Other | 23 | 7 | 6 | 5 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and type of non-income related benefit’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and type of non-income related benefit’ (CSV)
Summary of State support By ethnicity and type of non-income related benefit Summary
Age profiles are helpful in understanding some of these figures – for example, there are more White British people of retirement age, which helps explain why they're more likely to receive the State Pension.
The Disability Living Allowance (DLA) figures include the Personal Independence Payment (PIP), which was introduced in 2013. Because of rounding, the figures shown here may not match the sum of published DLA and PIP figures.
The data shows that, in the 3 years to March 2019:
- an average of 24% of families received the State Pension, 19% received Child Benefit, 8% received the care component of Disability Living Allowance, and 6% the mobility component
- out of all ethnic groups, families from the Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnic groups were the most likely to receive Child Benefit (33%)
- families from the Chinese (16%) and White British (17%) ethnic groups were the least likely to receive Child Benefit
- 28% of White British families received the State Pension – more than twice the percentage of any other ethnic group
6. By ethnicity and type of income-related benefit
| Ethnicity | Council Tax Reduction | Housing Benefit | Income Support | Pension Credit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | |
| All | 12 | 11 | 2 | 3 |
| Asian | 11 | 10 | 2 | 2 |
| Bangladeshi | 21 | 23 | 4 | 2 |
| Chinese | 9 | 6 | withheld to protect confidentiality | 2 |
| Indian | 6 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| Pakistani | 13 | 11 | 3 | 2 |
| Asian other | 12 | 14 | 1 | 1 |
| Black | 20 | 22 | 3 | 2 |
| Mixed | 14 | 15 | 4 | 1 |
| White | 12 | 11 | 2 | 4 |
| White British | 12 | 11 | 2 | 4 |
| White other | 7 | 8 | 1 | 2 |
| Other | 13 | 15 | 2 | 1 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and type of income-related benefit’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and type of income-related benefit’ (CSV)
Summary of State support By ethnicity and type of income-related benefit Summary
The data shows that, in the 3 years to March 2019:
- an average of 12% of families received Council Tax Reduction, 11% received Housing Benefit, 3% received Pension Credit, and 2% received Income Support
- families from the Bangladeshi and Black ethnic groups were the most likely out of all ethnic groups to receive Council Tax Reduction (21% and 20%) and Housing Benefit (23% and 22%)
- families from Indian (6%) and White Other (7%) ethnic groups were the least likely to receive Council Tax Reduction
- families from the Chinese (6%) and Indian (4%) ethnic groups were the least likely to receive Housing Benefit
7. By ethnicity (tax credits only)
| Ethnicity | Child Tax Credit | Working Tax Credit |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| All | 8 | 4 |
| Asian | 14 | 9 |
| Bangladeshi | 24 | 15 |
| Chinese | 5 | 3 |
| Indian | 7 | 4 |
| Pakistani | 22 | 14 |
| Asian other | 14 | 9 |
| Black | 16 | 9 |
| Mixed | 13 | 5 |
| White | 7 | 4 |
| White British | 7 | 4 |
| White other | 9 | 5 |
| Other | 13 | 8 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity (tax credits only)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity (tax credits only)’ (CSV)
Summary of State support By ethnicity (tax credits only) Summary
The data shows that, in the 3 years to March 2019:
- an average of 8% of families received Child Tax Credit, and 4% received Working Tax Credit
- families in the Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnic groups were the most likely to receive both Child Tax Credit (24% and 22%) and Working Tax Credit (15% and 14%)
- families from the Chinese, Indian and White British ethnic groups were the least likely to receive both Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit
8. Data sources
Source
Family Resources Survey: financial year 2018/19
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Department for Work and Pensions
Note on corrections or updates
The figures for the share of income in the download file before the year ending March 2015 may not match the DWP’s published figures. This is because the way of adjusting for inflation changed from the Retail Price Index to the Consumer Price Index from the year ending March 2015 onwards.
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The main purpose of the Family Resources Survey (FRS) is to give the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) data to develop, monitor and evaluate social welfare policy.
The survey is also used by other government departments, including for tax and benefit policy modelling by HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs. The FRS is also used extensively by academics and research institutes for social and economic research.
9. Download the data
This file contains the following: measure, ethnicity, year, value, denominator