United Kingdom
In arrears with bills
Key points
- A fifth of families in the poorest fifth are in arrears with their bills. This is three times the rate for those on average incomes.
- A fifth of workless working-age families are in arrears with their bills. This is five times the rate for all-working families.
Graph 1: By income
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Graph 2: By family work status
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Why this indicator was originally chosen
Debt and its associated problems has been a longstanding concern from a poverty perspective, the issue being to find some authoritative, relevant data on the subject. This indicator analyses one aspect for which such data exists, namely families in arrears with their bills.
Definitions and data sources
Both graphs show the proportion of families in arrears with at least one of their: utility bills, Council Tax payments, insurance polices, television rental or hire purchase payments.
In the first graph, the data is for all families and is shown for each fifth of the household income distribution, where the income is after deducting housing costs.
In the second graph, the data is for working-age families only and is shown for the following family work statuses: all-working (single or couple, with one in full-time work and the other - if applicable - in full-time or part-time work); part-working (couples where one is working and the other is not plus singles or couples where no one is working full-time but one or more are working part-time); and workless. The self-employed and pensioner families are excluded from the analysis.
The data for both graphs is the Family Resources Survey and relates to the United Kingdom. The averaging over three-year periods has been done to improve statistical reliability. Note that the figures are not quite the same as those published in DWP’s annual HBAI reports, as (oddly) the HBAI reports count individual adults rather than families even though the survey question is directed at the family as a whole.
Overall adequacy of the indicator: limited. The data is only covers one particular aspect of the problems associated with debt.
External links
- See the Family Budget Unit site.
- See the money advice trust information hub, which is a website that provides access to a range of information for people with an interest in money advice, credit, debt and debt remedies and recovery.
Relevant 2007 Public Service Agreements
None directly relevant.
Relevant government policies
- National minimum wage
- Tax credits and their predecessors
- Increases in child benefit
- Pension credit and its predecessors
- Second state pension
The numbers
Graph 1
| Group | Number of bills in arrears | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Zero | One | Two or more | |
| Poorest fifth | 81% | 9% | 10% |
| 2nd | 90% | 5% | 4% |
| Middle fifth | 94% | 3% | 2% |
| 4h | 97% | 2% | 1% |
| Richest fifth | 99% | 1% | 0% |
Graph 2
| Group | Number of bills in arrears | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Zero | One | Two or more | |
| Workless families | 78% | 11% | 11% |
| Part-working families | 90% | 5% | 5% |
| All-working families | 95% | 3% | 2% |