Persistent low income
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- 1. Navigate to Main facts and figures section
- 2. Navigate toPersistent low income before housing costs by ethnicity section
- 3. Navigate toPersistent low income before housing costs by ethnicity and age group section
- 4. Navigate toPersistent low income after housing costs by ethnicity and age group section
- 5. Navigate toIndividuals entering persistent low income before housing costs by ethnicity section
- 6. Navigate toIndividuals leaving persistent low income before housing costs by ethnicity section
- 7. Navigate to Methodology section
- 8. Navigate to Data sources section
- 9. Navigate to Download the data section
1. Main facts and figures
- between 2012 and 2016, people living in White households had the lowest rates of persistent low income out of all ethnic groups, both before and after housing costs were taken into account – persistent low income is defined as having 60% or less of the median (average) UK income in at least 3 out of 4 years
- the highest rates of persistent low income were found among people living in Asian and Black households
- in 2015 to 2016, the median (average) UK income for a couple with no children was £27,000 before housing costs like rent and mortgages were paid, and £23,000 after housing costs were paid
Things you need to know
Understanding Society is a ‘sample survey’. It collects information from a random sample of the population to make generalisations (reach 'findings') about the total population.
As with all surveys, the estimates from Understanding Society are subject to a degree of uncertainty as they are based on a sample of the population. The degree of uncertainty is greater when the number of respondents is small, so it will be highest for ethnic minority groups.
When analysing this data by age groups, the sample sizes become smaller and this makes some estimates unreliable (for example, pensioners living in households in the Mixed or Other ethnic groups). Where data is withheld because of small sample sizes, this is shown in the charts and tables.
Use caution when interpreting differences between groups, especially for small sub-groups like a specific ethnic group and age group combination.
Confidence intervals for the estimates presented are not available, so any changes seen in the data can’t be shown to be statistically significant. Confidence intervals allow changes or differences in data to be checked to see if they’re reliable. Differences are statistically significant if the results for the 2 groups or time periods being compared are within entirely different ranges.
Data for people living in households with unknown ethnicity isn’t shown separately. However, people living in households with unknown ethnicity are included in the estimates for all households (shown as ‘All’ in charts and tables).
Download the data for:
- figures for the periods 2010 to 2014, and 2011 to 2015
- persistent low income estimates based on 70% of median income (rather than 60% of median income)
What the data measures
This data shows the percentage of individuals living in households which have ‘persistent low income’.
Households are classed as being in low income if they live on less than 60% of the UK’s median income. Persistent low income means the household has had low income for at least 3 out of 4 years.
A household is one person or a group of people (not necessarily related) who have the accommodation as their only or main residence. If it is a group, they must share cooking facilities and also share a living room, sitting room or dining area.
Some households contain people from different ethnic backgrounds. In these cases, the ethnic background of the ‘household reference person’ is used to define the ethnic background of everyone in the household. The household reference person is usually the member of the household with the highest income.
Two types of median income are used in this measure:
- median income before housing costs (BHC) are paid – this was £27,000 in 2015 to 2016
- median income after housing costs (AHC) are paid – this was £23,000 in 2015 to 2016
This data shows individuals living in households that are in persistent low income both before and after housing costs have been paid.
Presenting estimates before and after housing costs shows how the cost of housing has a greater or lesser impact on different groups. For example, pensioners, who may have paid off their mortgages, tend to spend a smaller proportion of their income on housing than people of working age, and they are therefore less likely to be in persistent low income after housing costs have been deducted. Over 70 per cent of pensioners in the Understanding Society survey in 2012 to 2016 had paid off their mortgages.
Income measured before housing costs includes any state benefits households receive to pay for housing.
Household incomes are adjusted (or ‘equivalised’) to take into account the number of adults and children who live there.
This data comes from the Department for Work and Pensions’ analysis of the Understanding Society survey run by the University of Essex.
The ethnic categories used in this data
For this data, the number of people from specific ethnic categories surveyed (the ‘sample size’) was too small to draw any firm conclusions. Therefore, the data is broken down into the following 5 broad groups:
- Asian
- Black
- Mixed
- White
- Other
In addition, the White ethnic group is broken down into 2 separate groups:
- White British
- White Other
2. Persistent low income before housing costs by ethnicity
| Ethnicity | % | No. of respondents |
|---|---|---|
| All | 9 | 36,461 |
| Asian | 20 | 3,087 |
| Black | 20 | 1,265 |
| Mixed | 9 | 407 |
| White | 8 | 29,799 |
| White British | 8 | 28,130 |
| White other | 8 | 1,669 |
| Other | 20 | 226 |
Download table data for ‘Persistent low income before housing costs by ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Persistent low income before housing costs by ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Persistent low income Persistent low income before housing costs by ethnicity Summary
This data shows that:
- 20% of people living in Asian and Black households lived in persistent low income, the highest percentages out of all ethnic groups – persistent low income is defined as earning less than 60% of the UK median income before housing costs in at least 3 out of 4 years
- 8% of people living in White households lived in persistent low income, the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups
- sample sizes for the Mixed and Other ethnic groups were too small to draw reliable conclusions about the results for these groups
3. Persistent low income before housing costs by ethnicity and age group
| All | Children | Working-age adults | Pensioners | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | All % | All No. of respondents | Children % | Children No. of respondents | Working-age adults % | Working-age adults No. of respondents | Pensioners % | Pensioners No. of respondents |
| All | 9 | 36,461 | 11 | 8,929 | 8 | 20,031 | 10 | 7,487 |
| Asian | 20 | 3,087 | 28 | 1,145 | 16 | 1,753 | 16 | 186 |
| Black | 20 | 1,265 | 26 | 456 | 17 | 689 | 13 | 118 |
| Mixed | 9 | 407 | 7 | 137 | 11 | 236 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 34 |
| White | 8 | 29,799 | 9 | 6,701 | 7 | 16,198 | 10 | 6,894 |
| White British | 8 | 28,130 | 9 | 6,268 | 7 | 15,262 | 10 | 6,594 |
| White other | 8 | 1,669 | 10 | 433 | 6 | 936 | 13 | 300 |
| Other | 20 | 226 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 81 | 16 | 123 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 22 |
Download table data for ‘Persistent low income before housing costs by ethnicity and age group’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Persistent low income before housing costs by ethnicity and age group’ (CSV)
Summary of Persistent low income Persistent low income before housing costs by ethnicity and age group Summary
This data shows that:
- children living in Asian (28%) and Black households (26%) were more likely to live in persistent low income before housing costs were paid than children living in White households (9%)
- 6% of working age adults living in White Other households lived in persistent low income before housing costs were paid, while 7% of those living in White British households did so – these were the lowest percentages out of all ethnic groups where data was available for working age adults
- 16% of pensioners living in Asian households lived in persistent low income before housing costs were paid, the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups where data was available for pensioners
- sample sizes for the Mixed and Other ethnic groups were too small to draw reliable conclusions about the results for these groups
4. Persistent low income after housing costs by ethnicity and age group
| All | Children | Working-age adults | Pensioners | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | All % | All No. of respondents | Children % | Children No. of respondents | Working-age adults % | Working-age adults No. of respondents | Pensioners % | Pensioners No. of respondents |
| All | 12 | 31,307 | 17 | 7,450 | 11 | 16,925 | 7 | 6,922 |
| Asian | 27 | 2,396 | 35 | 886 | 23 | 1,340 | 13 | 167 |
| Black | 29 | 934 | 38 | 345 | 24 | 499 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 89 |
| Mixed | 20 | 325 | 22 | 106 | 22 | 190 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 29 |
| White | 11 | 26,124 | 15 | 5,741 | 10 | 13,966 | 7 | 6,411 |
| White British | 11 | 24,641 | 15 | 5,354 | 10 | 13,145 | 7 | 6,136 |
| White other | 13 | 1,483 | 16 | 387 | 13 | 821 | 11 | 275 |
| Other | 24 | 192 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 69 | 24 | 107 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 16 |
Download table data for ‘Persistent low income after housing costs by ethnicity and age group’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Persistent low income after housing costs by ethnicity and age group’ (CSV)
Summary of Persistent low income Persistent low income after housing costs by ethnicity and age group Summary
This data shows that:
- overall, 12% of individuals were classed as living in households in persistent low income after housing costs were paid, compared with 9% before housing costs
- 29% of people living in Black households lived in persistent low income (the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups), compared with 11% of people living in White households (the lowest percentage)
- among children, those living in Black (38%) and Asian households (35%) were most likely of all ethnic groups to live in persistent low income after housing costs were paid
- similarly, among working age adults, those living in Black (24%) and Asian households (23%) were most likely of all ethnic groups to live in persistent low income
- 13% of pensioners living in Asian households lived in persistent low income after housing costs were paid, the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups where data was available
5. Individuals entering persistent low income before housing costs by ethnicity
| Ethnicity | % | No. of respondents |
|---|---|---|
| All | 5 | 106,684 |
| Asian | 9 | 7,352 |
| Black | 8 | 3,499 |
| Mixed | 5 | 1,244 |
| White | 5 | 88,642 |
| White British | 5 | 83,568 |
| White other | 6 | 5,074 |
| Other | 11 | 598 |
Download table data for ‘Individuals entering persistent low income before housing costs by ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Individuals entering persistent low income before housing costs by ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Persistent low income Individuals entering persistent low income before housing costs by ethnicity Summary
This data shows that:
- people most likely to enter into persistent low income lived in households in the Other ethnic group (11%), followed by Asian (9%), Black (8%) and White households (5%)
6. Individuals leaving persistent low income before housing costs by ethnicity
| Ethnicity | % | No. of respondents |
|---|---|---|
| All | 34 | 20,118 |
| Asian | 28 | 3,767 |
| Black | 31 | 1,115 |
| Mixed | 32 | 280 |
| White | 35 | 13,837 |
| White British | 35 | 12,975 |
| White other | 39 | 862 |
| Other | 27 | 246 |
Download table data for ‘Individuals leaving persistent low income before housing costs by ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Individuals leaving persistent low income before housing costs by ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Persistent low income Individuals leaving persistent low income before housing costs by ethnicity Summary
This data shows that:
- of those individuals who had been in persistent low income in the previous year, 35% of those living in White households went above the low income threshold, therefore leaving persistent low income – this was the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups, followed by 31% of people in Black households and 28% of those in Asian households
7. Methodology
These statistics are derived from the Understanding Society survey waves 2-7, 2010 to 2016.
Understanding Society is a UK household longitudinal study in which respondents in households are visited each year to collect information on changes to their household and individual circumstances. Interviews are typically carried out in respondents’ homes by trained interviewers. Household members aged 16 years or older are interviewed and the same individuals are re-interviewed in successive years to see how things have changed. Individuals become eligible for a full interview once they reach the age of 16 years.
Household incomes are adjusted (or ‘equivalised’) during the statistical calculation to take into account the number of adults and children who live there. Equivalisation adjusts incomes for household size and composition, taking an adult couple with no children as the reference point. After equivalisation has been applied, households with the same equivalised income can be said to have a comparable standard of living.
Weights have been applied which take the combined population subsamples, adjusting for unequal selection probabilities, differential non-response, and potential sampling error.
Estimates are subject to sampling error and remaining non-sampling bias.
Surveys gather information from a sample rather than from the whole population. The selection of the sample for the Understanding Society study is designed to be representative of the whole population, but there are limitations to this accuracy, due to, for example, time and cost constraints. Thus, results from a sample survey are always estimates, not precise figures. This means that they are subject to a margin of error which can affect how changes in the numbers should be interpreted, especially in the short-term. Year-on-year movements should be treated with caution.
The data on income before housing costs is of better quality than that on income after housing costs, as fewer cases were available for analysis after housing costs. The University of Essex, which publishes the Understanding Society survey, plans to improve housing costs information for the next publication.
Suppression rules and disclosure control
Any values based on fewer than 100 responses have been suppressed to preserve confidentiality.
Rounding
Percentages are given to the nearest whole number.
Related publications
Households below average income (HBAI) statistics Income Dynamics Statistics
Quality and methodology information
8. Data sources
Source
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
Experimental statistics
Publisher
Department for Work and Pensions
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The Income Dynamics statistics are designed to report on income movements and the persistence of low income for various population groups.
Reporting on these issues is required under UK law and the Income Dynamics statistics are intended to supplement the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) statistics. The analysis of the Income Dynamics data allows the tracking of changes in income over time for different population groups.
9. Download the data
This file contains the following variables: Measure, Time, Time_type, Ethnicity of household reference person, Ethnicity_type, Age_bracket, Value, Denominator.
This file contains the following variables: Measure, Time, Time_type, Ethnicity of household reference person, Ethnicity_type, Geography, Geography_type, Gender, Gender_type, Age Bracket, Age Bracket Type, Value, Denominator.