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Title:
Households Below Average Income, 1994/95-2008/09
(HBAI)

Subject Categories:
Households Below Average Income - Major studies
Consumer behaviour - Economics
Economic conditions and indicators - Economics
Income, property and investment - Economics

Depositor(s):
Department for Work and Pensions

Principal Investigator(s):
Department for Work and Pensions

Data Collector(s):
Department for Work and Pensions

Sponsor(s):
Department for Work and Pensions

Abstract:
Households Below Average Income, 1994/95 – 2008/09 (HBAI) uses household disposable incomes, after adjusting for the household size and composition, as a proxy for material living standards. More precisely, it is a proxy for the level of consumption of goods and services that people could attain given the disposable income of the household in which they live. In order to allow comparisons of the living standards of different types of households, income is adjusted to take into account variations in the size and composition of the households in a process known as equivalisation. A key assumption made in HBAI is that all individuals in the household benefit equally from the combined income of the household. This enables the total equivalised income of the household to be used as a proxy for the standard of living of each household member.

The main source of data used in this study is the Family Resources Survey (FRS) (held at the UK Data Archive under GN 33283), which is a continuous cross-sectional survey. As the FRS does not track individuals over time, analysis of incomes is supplemented by the use of longitudinal data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) (held at the Archive under GN 33196).

Further information is available from the Department for Work and Pensions' HBAI web page.

An earlier HBAI study, Institute for Fiscal Studies Households Below Average Income Dataset, 1961-1991, is held at the Archive under SN 3300.

For the fourth edition (July 2010), all data files were updated and data for 2008/09 were added to the study. The documentation was also updated.

Prospective users should note that the Department for Work and Pensions strongly recommends that anyone using 'Households Below Average Income' (HBAI) data to look at low income statistics request access to the Special Licence version of the HBAI dataset (held at the Archive under GN 33382), which contains all households and unrounded income data. This will ensure analysis is consistent with that published in the National Statistics 'Households Below Average Income' series. The End User Licence (EUL) data should only be used for teaching purpose and basic analyses. Results derived from the EUL data will differ from those published officially.

Main Topics:
HBAI provides information on potential living standards in the United Kingdom as determined by disposable income and allows for changes in income patterns to be analysed over time.

Coverage:
Time Period Covered: 1994-2009
Country: United Kingdom
Spatial Units: Government Office Regions (GORs)
Observation Units: Individuals
Kind of Data: Numeric data

Universe Sampled:
Location of Units of Observation:National
Population:Respondents of the FRS and BHPS.

Methodology:
Time Dimensions: Time Series
Sampling Procedures: Multi-stage stratified random sample
Method of Data Collection: Face-to-face interview; Compilation or synthesis of existing material
Weighting: Weighting used. See documentation for details
Data Sources: The HBAI time series comprises information included in the main FRS from 1994/95 – 2007/08, supplemented by data from the BHPS.

Language(s) of Written Materials:
Study Description: English
Study Documentation: English

Access:
Access Conditions: The depositor has specified that registration is required and standard conditions of use apply. The depositor may be informed about usage. See terms and conditions for further information.
Availability: ESDS Government, UK Data Archive
Contact: Help desk: govsurveys@esds.ac.uk

Date of Release:
First Edition: 19 May 2008
Latest Edition: 29 July 2010 ( 4th Edition )

Copyright:
Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland

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