This table provides metadata for the actual indicator available from UK statistics closest to the corresponding global SDG indicator. Please note that even when the global SDG indicator is fully available from UK statistics, this table should be consulted for information on national methodology and other UK-specific metadata information.
| Indicator available | |
|---|---|
| Indicator description | |
| Geographical coverage |
United Kingdom |
| Unit of measurement |
Percentage (%) |
| Definitions |
Household Expenditure - The expenditure measure includes spending on items that are usually purchased frequently (such as food, petrol), as well as less frequent expenditure (such as household appliances and furnishings). Housing costs such as rent, Council Tax, mortgage payments etc. are excluded from the measure, meaning expenditure is counted on an ‘after housing costs’ (AHC) basis. Household Income - The measure we use for income is household disposable income, AHC. Disposable income is the amount of money that households have available for spending and saving after direct taxes (such as Income Tax, National Insurance and Council Tax) and pension contributions have been accounted for. It includes earnings from employment, private pensions and investments as well as cash benefits provided by the state. Reflecting household size - The expenditure and income measures used in this analysis are all equivalised. Equivalisation is the process of accounting for the fact that households with many members are likely to need a higher income to achieve the same standard of living as households with fewer members. Both income and expenditure are adjusted using OECD-modified “companion” scales developed for AHC measures in thee Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Households below average income (HBAI) series. |
| Available disaggregations | |
| Calculations | |
| Other information |
Throughout this analysis, the primary data source used to derive measures of both income and expenditure in the UK is the Living Costs and Food Survey (LCF). The LCF is an annual survey of the expenditure and income of private households; people living in hotels, lodging houses and institutions such as old people’s homes are excluded. It is the only data source to collect detailed data on both income and expenditure, thereby allowing analysis of the two measures. As with all surveys, there are some limitations to be aware of. The LCF is known to not fully capture those at the poorest and richest ends of income distribution and suffers from non-response error. When analysing inequalities, this can impact on the representation of the target population (in this case, the bottom 40%) and the overall appearance of income distribution. In international comparisons, data has been sourced from the World Bank, and data for the UK comes from Eurostat’s European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC). The EU-SILC collects data on poverty, income, social exclusion and living conditions. In the international analysis, the total population and the target population (bottom 40%) are defined on a household level, before housing costs (BHC). Eurostat sets the reference year at T-1 from the survey year, therefore 2009 reference year will refer to 2010 survey data. In addition, data from the World Bank is from 91 countries. Not all these countries will have annual surveys, therefore the reference years for the annualised growth rates are labelled at circa 2010 to 2015. The annualised growth rate is computed as - (mean in year 2/mean in year 1)^(1/(reference year 2 – reference year 1)). Data follows the UN specification for this indicator. This indicator has been identified in collaboration with topic experts. |
| Data last updated | 06 December 2021 |
| Metadata last updated | 10 February 2022 |