Scotland
Low income by age group
Key points
- The proportion of pensioners living in low income households (using the low income threshold of the 60% of median income after deducting housing costs) has been falling, from an average of 31% of all pensioners in the years 1994/95 to 1996/97 to an average of 18% in the years 2003/04 to 2005/06.
- Pensioners are now less likely to be living in low income households than non-pensioners.
- The proportion of children living in low income households has also been falling, from an average of 32% of all children in the years 1994/95 to 1996/97 to an average of 25% in the years 2003/04 to 2005/06.
- Nevertheless, children remain much more likely to live in low income households than either working-age adults or pensioners.
- In contrast, the proportion of working-age adults without dependent children living in low income households has been rising, from an average of 15% in the years 1994/95 to 1996/97 to an average of 18% in the years 2003/04 to 2005/06. The proportion on low income is much higher for single adult households (25%) than for couple households (11%).
- A third of all people in low income are of working age and without dependent children.
- See the UK indicator on low income by age group.
Graph 1: Risks
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Graph 2: Shares
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Definitions and data sources
The first graph shows the risk of a person being in a low income household, with the data shown separately for children, pensioners and working-age adults without dependent children. For presentational reasons, the figures for working-age adults with dependent children (which broadly follow the same trends as for children themselves) are not shown.
The second graph shows a breakdown of the people in low income households according to whether they are children, pensioners, working-age adults with dependent children or working-age adults without dependent children.
The data source for both graphs is Households Below Average Income, based on the Family Resources Survey (FRS). A child is defined as an individual who is either under 16 or is an unmarried 16- to 18-year-old on a course up to and including A level standard (or Highers in Scotland). Income is disposable household income after deducting housing costs and the low income threshold is the same as that used elsewhere, namely 60% of contemporary median household income. All data is equivalised (adjusted) to account for differences in household size and composition. The self-employed are included in the statistics. Note that in 2007 DWP made some technical changes to how it adjusted household income for household composition (including retrospective changes) and, as a result, the data is slightly different than previously published figures.
Overall adequacy of the indicator: high. The FRS is a well-established annual government survey, designed to be representative of the population as a whole. Note, however, that coverage does not extend beyond the Caledonian Canal.