Sources of household income
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- 1. Navigate to Main facts and figures section
- 2. Navigate toSources of household income by ethnicity section
- 3. Navigate toShare of income from wages, salaries or self-employment by ethnicity over time section
- 4. Navigate toShare of income from pensions by ethnicity over time section
- 5. Navigate toShare of income from benefits and tax credits by ethnicity over time section
- 6. Navigate to Methodology section
- 7. Navigate to Data sources section
- 8. Navigate to Download the data section
1. Main facts and figures
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on average, income from employment (earnings, salaries and self-employment) made up just under three-quarters of households’ total income
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Indian and White other households received the highest percentage of income from employment
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Chinese and Pakistani households had the largest percentage point increase in share of income from wages, salaries or self-employment over the period studied
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the share of income from pensions received by White British households was more than twice that of any other ethnic group
Things you need to know
Because of variations in the data 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. It does that every year, so each year there’s a new 3-year average. For example, the published data for the period from 2013/14 to 2015/16 is an average of the data for each year from 2013/14 to 2015/16.
While this type of survey methodology increases the reliability of the data, it means that tests for significant differences between ethnic groups have not been carried out. However, commentary has been supplied for those findings where differences between ethnic groups are reasonably reliable.
The ethnicity assigned to the household is that of the household reference person (usually the person with the highest income). Some households contain people from different ethnic backgrounds. In these circumstances, we have used the ethnic background of the household reference person to define the ethnic background of the household.
What the data measures
The data measures the sources of gross income for households in the UK. Gross income is the amount a household receives from all sources before taxes and other deductions.
The data is broken down by:
- sources of income
- the ethnic group of the ‘household reference person’ (usually the person with the highest income)
A household can be one person living alone or a group of people living at the same address sharing a kitchen and either a living room, sitting room or dining area.
Total household income includes income from all people in the household (including children).
Income from pensions includes both the State Pension and private pensions.
Income from benefits includes both:
- non-income related benefits like Child Benefit and Disability Living Allowance
- income-related benefits like Council Tax Reduction and income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
The ethnic categories used in this data
The Family Resources Survey uses the following ethnic categories:
White
Mixed/Multiple
Asian/Asian British:
- Indian
- Pakistani
- Bangladeshi
- Chinese
- Asian other
Black/African/Caribbean/Black British
Other ethnic group
For this analysis, the White ethnic group has been divided into 2 categories:
- White British
- all other White ethnic groups
2. Sources of household income by ethnicity
| Standard Ethnicity | Wages and salaries | Self-employed income | All other sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | |
| All | 64 | 8 | 28 |
| Bangladeshi | 57 | 7 | 36 |
| Chinese | 71 | 4 | 25 |
| Indian | 77 | 8 | 15 |
| Pakistani | 57 | 15 | 28 |
| Asian other | 66 | 10 | 24 |
| Black | 67 | 5 | 28 |
| Mixed | 71 | 7 | 22 |
| White British | 62 | 8 | 30 |
| White other | 78 | 9 | 13 |
| Other | 62 | 7 | 31 |
Download table data for ‘Sources of household income by ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Sources of household income by ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Sources of household income Sources of household income by ethnicity Summary
This data shows that:
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on average, households received 64% of their total income from wages and salaries, 8% from self-employment, and 28% from other sources including pensions and benefits
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Indian and White other households received the highest percentage of their income from employment (including wages, salaries and self-employment) at 85% and 87% respectively
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households receiving the highest percentage of income from other sources (including pensions and benefits) were Bangladeshi (36%), White British (30%) and households from the Other ethnic group (31%)
3. Share of income from wages, salaries or self-employment by ethnicity over time
| Standard Ethnicity | 2009/10-2011/12 | 2010/11-2012/13 | 2011/12-2013/14 | 2012/13-2014/15 | 2013/14-2015/16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | |
| White British | 71 | 70 | 70 | 71 | 70 |
| White other | 83 | 82 | 86 | 86 | 87 |
| Mixed | 77 | 74 | 75 | 77 | 78 |
| Indian | 83 | 84 | 84 | 85 | 85 |
| Pakistani | 65 | 67 | 69 | 70 | 72 |
| Bangladeshi | 60 | 58 | 60 | 64 | 64 |
| Chinese | 68 | 69 | 79 | 74 | 75 |
| Asian other | 75 | 73 | 75 | 74 | 76 |
| Black | 72 | 71 | 69 | 70 | 72 |
| Other | 73 | 74 | 71 | 69 | 69 |
Download table data for ‘Share of income from wages, salaries or self-employment by ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Share of income from wages, salaries or self-employment by ethnicity over time’ (CSV)
Summary of Sources of household income Share of income from wages, salaries or self-employment by ethnicity over time Summary
This data shows that:
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the percentage of income from employment (including wages, salaries and self-employment) increased for most ethnic groups over the period studied - the exceptions were White British and Black households, and those from the Other ethnic group
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Chinese and Pakistani households both had the biggest increase (at 7 percentage points) in the share of their income coming from employment
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Bangladeshi households consistently had the lowest percentage of income coming from employment, although the percentage increased from 60% to 64% over the whole period studied
4. Share of income from pensions by ethnicity over time
| Standard Ethnicity | 2009/10-2011/12 | 2010/11-2012/13 | 2011/12-2013/14 | 2012/13-2014/15 | 2013/14-2015/16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | |
| White British | 16 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 |
| White other | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Mixed | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 |
| Indian | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| Pakistani | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Bangladeshi | 6 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 5 |
| Chinese | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Asian other | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| Black | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| Other | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 5 |
Download table data for ‘Share of income from pensions by ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Share of income from pensions by ethnicity over time’ (CSV)
Summary of Sources of household income Share of income from pensions by ethnicity over time Summary
This data shows that:
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the percentage of household income coming from state and private pensions has remained stable for all ethnic groups over the period studied, with no increase or decrease of more than 2 percentage points between the start and the end of the period studied
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White British households received the highest percentage of income from pensions in every year of the period studied (between 16% and 17%) - this was between 9 and 15 percentage points more than the other ethnic groups
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overall, Chinese households received the lowest percentage of income from pensions - and the percentage decreased from 3% to 2% over the period studied
5. Share of income from benefits and tax credits by ethnicity over time
| Standard Ethnicity | 2009/10-2011/12 | 2010/11-2012/13 | 2011/12-2013/14 | 2012/13-2014/15 | 2013/14-2015/16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | |
| All | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Bangladeshi | 27 | 26 | 27 | 24 | 25 |
| Chinese | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Indian | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| Pakistani | 24 | 24 | 22 | 21 | 18 |
| Asian other | 11 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 9 |
| Black | 17 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 17 |
| Mixed | 14 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 11 |
| White British | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 |
| White other | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| Other | 12 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 13 |
Download table data for ‘Share of income from benefits and tax credits by ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Share of income from benefits and tax credits by ethnicity over time’ (CSV)
Summary of Sources of household income Share of income from benefits and tax credits by ethnicity over time Summary
This data shows that:
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overall, the percentage of household income coming from benefits and tax credits was broadly stable at between 8% and 9% over the period studied
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Pakistani households had the biggest percentage point drop in the share of income from benefits and tax credits, from 24% to 18% over the period studied
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Bangladeshi households received the highest percentage of income from benefits and tax credits in every year of the period studied, ranging from 24% to 27%
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Chinese households received the lowest percentage of income from benefits and tax credits (either 3% or 4%) in every year of the period studied
6. Methodology
The FRS is a continuous household survey which collects information on a representative sample of private households in the UK. Detailed information is recorded on respondents’ income from all sources:
- housing tenure
- caring needs and responsibilities
- disability
- spending on housing
- education
- pension scheme participation
- childcare
- family circumstances
- child maintenance
The survey is conducted in respondents’ homes face to face with an interviewer.
In the latest 3-year period, 2013/14 to 2015/16, the FRS sample consisted of almost 60,000 households in the UK. It has a financial-year survey period with surveys conducted throughout the year and is cross-sectional (a ‘snapshot’ of households over the year). Individuals are not followed up for later surveys. Since responses reflect only a sample of the total population, they are weighted (scaled up) on the basis of subnational population totals by age and sex to give estimates for the entire UK household population.
Estimates are subject to sampling error and non-sampling bias. The FRS only covers private households. Therefore, individuals who live in communal accommodation (for example, care homes) or have no fixed address (for example, who are homeless) are not included in these results.
Households where every resident over the age of 16 responds to the questions are classed as fully co-operating. Only households with full co-operation are included in the analysis. This may introduce some error, as the characteristics of individuals living in households which do not respond fully may be different to those who do fully co-operate. Therefore, the sample will be biased towards (that is, more representative of) those who do respond fully. Overall, 56% of households fully co-operated with the survey, meaning there was a sample size of 19,326 households in 2015/16.
Results derived from a low number of responses are more likely to be affected by statistical variation, so observed changes might not reflect real differences. As such, caution is needed when interpreting short-term trends in the data, especially for subgroups (for example, a specific ethnic group, age group and gender). Using a 3-year average for income minimises the risks due to uncertainty to an extent.
As the data is presented as a 3-year average, no statistical tests have been performed to determine whether the estimates taken from the survey are statistically significantly different from one another.
In other words, as the results are based on a sample of the population, without further testing it isn’t possible to determine whether any differences observed would likely be seen across the entire population. This is important to consider and means that conclusions around differences between groups cannot be drawn. However, the data is still useful because it indicates where differences between ethnic groups might exist.
Suppression rules and disclosure control
Any values based on fewer than 100 responses have been suppressed. N/A
Rounding
Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Due to this, some figures may not add up to 100.
Related publications
Family Resources Survey: financial year 2014/15
Family Resources Survey: financial year 2013/14
Family Resources Survey: financial year 2012/13
Quality and methodology information
7. Data sources
Source
Family Resources Survey: financial year 2015/16
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Department for Work and Pensions
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The primary purpose of the Family Resources Survey (FRS) is to provide the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) with data to inform the development, monitoring and evaluation of social welfare policy.
The survey is used by many other government departments, as well as 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.
8. Download the data
This file contains the following: ethnicity, year, geography, value, denominator