Households Below Average Income - Frequently Asked Questions
Questions:
Which years of the HBAI are available?
The HBAI time series, 1994/95 - 2007/08 comprises information included in the main FRS from 1994/95 – 2007/08, supplemented by data from the BHPS. An earlier HBAI study, Institute for Fiscal Studies Households Below Average Income Dataset, 1961-1991, is held at ESDS under SN 3300.
Why there is a gap in the HBAI time series between 1991 and 1994?
The gap between 1991 and 1994 is due to a historical difference. There are two HBAI datasets available from ESDS, Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) Households Below Average Income Dataset (1961-1991) and Households Below Average Income (1994/95-2008/09) produced by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The IFS used the Family Expenditure Survey (FES) data to create a time series of households below average income. They used an independent methodology and the results are totally independent from any shown in the DWP HBAI publication/dataset.
The DWP have, since 1994/95 produced a new time series using a new methodology based on the Family Resources Survey (FRS) data. The FRS started in 1993/94 but due to poorer data quality in that year, it was not used for the HBAI.
These datasets are not directly comparable and if they are used to provide a longer combined time series this should be made very clear in the footnotes.
Note that the Households Below Average Income report shows results back to 1979 for a mixture of single years, and two combined years. The FES data in these examples has been manipulated using a methodology consistent to the FRS data for the period 1994/95 to 2008/09 where possible and is different to the IFS data noted above. However these FES datasets are not available through the UK Data Archive because the DWP do not consider the data suitable for public release.
What format is the data available in?
The HBAI dataset is available in SPSS, STATA and ASCII tab-delimited formats.
Where can I obtain statistics and tables from the HBAI?
The Department for Work and Pensions web site contains more information, including reports..
What is the most detailed geography I can analyse the data at?
The HBAI can be analysed at Government Office Region level.
Before I order, how do I find out what questions/variables are included?
Variable lists and PDF user guides are freely available on the Dataset Titles page.
Is there a more general FAQ?
There is a generic ESDS Government FAQ for all surveys available.
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