Northern Ireland
Older people with no private income
Key points
- Two-fifths of single pensioners - and a fifth of pensioner couples - have no income other than the state retirement pension and state benefits. This is more than double the proportion in Great Britain.
- More than half of employees on average and below-average incomes are not contributing to a non-state pension (although some may belong to a non-contributory pension scheme).
- The proportion of employees not contributing to a non-state pension is around a third for all ages from 30 upwards.
Graph 1: No private income
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Graph 2: Not contributing by income
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Graph 3: Not contributing by age
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Definitions and data sources
The first graph shows the proportion of pensioners with no income other than the state retirement pension and state benefits, with the data shown separately for single pensioners and pensioner couples. For comparison purposes, the equivalent data for Great Britain is also shown.
The data source for the first graph is Households Below Average Income, based on the Family Resources Survey (FRS). To improve its statistical reliability, the data is the average for the years 2003/04 to 2005/06 .
The second and third graphs both show the proportion of currently employed working-age adults not contributing to a non-state pension. In the second graph, the data is shown separately for each income quintile. In the third graph, the data is shown separately by age group. To improve its statistical reliability, the data is the average for the latest three years.
Note that 'not contributing to a pension' is not the same as 'not having a pension' because a) some people will belong to a non-contributory pension scheme and b) some people will have a pension which they happen not to have contributed to over the latest year.
The data source for the second and third graphs is FRS. The income quintiles are defined in terms of disposable household income after deducting housing costs with all data equivalised (adjusted) to account for differences in household size and composition. Note that, although the statistics are for Northern Irish households only, the allocations to income quintile are those for the total UK population income distribution.
Overall adequacy of the indicator: medium. The FRS is a well-established annual government survey designed to be representative of the population as a whole and the Northern Ireland sample has been boosted to improve sample sizes. However, the Northern Irish sample is a recent addition to the survey and is yet to be fully quality assured by the Department of Work and Pensions.