Notes
Households Below Average Income (HBAI)
Main uses
HBAI is the key dataset for the analysis of income poverty and is treated as such by both researchers and the government. It importance comes from the fact that the household income data it contains has been extensively reviewed and processed by government to ensure that it is properly comparable between households. This involves a process (called 'equivalisation') whereby household incomes are adjusted to reflect the fact that, to have the same standard of living, a family of four (for example) requires more money than a family of one but not four times as much.
As well as extensive income data, HBAI also contain data about individuals' pay rates, working hours, tax credits, housing costs, etc, thus allowing complex analyses. Furthermore, data from HBAI can be linked with the data for the same individuals/households in Family Resources Survey on which it is based.
Finally, despite its name, HBAI is actually a dataset which covers all levels of income, not just low income. As such, its uses are much wider then income poverty and cover the whole of the income distribution.
Use of the HBAI datasets themselves, rather than the Department of Work and Pension's annual HBAI reports, is recommended because the government sometimes changes and re-publishes the datasets without re-publishing the reports. In particular, in 2005/06, the Department of Work and Pensions changed the way that they adjusted household income for the size and composition of the household, applying this change retrospectively to all previous datasets. Also, in 2003/04, they re-weighted all the datasets for revised population estimates from the 2001 Census. What this effectively means is that any analyses done prior to April 2006 are now out-of-date unless they have been re-worked using the latest versions of the datasets.
Furthermore, when analysing data for below the UK level (e.g. for Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland), use of the datasets rather than the published reports becomes mandatory as the published reports only contain a very limited amount of information at this level.
The problem is that HBAI is a difficult dataset to use and it is easy to make mistakes. The lack of documentation adds further difficulty. But its central importance means that any serious researcher in the field of poverty has to get to grips with it. The key is to take the time and effort to properly familiarise yourself with the dataset before using it and a useful discipline is to start by trying to duplicate the results in the annual HBAI reports. Some documentation or advice might also be available from the team at the Department of Work and Pensions (the HBAI team) or alternatively if you contact us (info@npi.org.uk) then we might be able to help.
The material below is designed to give you a head start in this learning process. It should be read in conjunction with two other pages from this site which discuss some of the underlying concepts. These are the pages on choices of low-income threshold and households, families and benefit units.
Source
In summary:
- Available from: UK data archive.
- Registration required: yes.
- First survey available: 1994/95.
- Frequency: annual.
- Updated: April.
- Scope: UK-wide (but only Great Britain-wide for the years prior to 2002/03).
- Format: SPSS.
- Files: a single benefit unit level file per year.
- Documentation: restricted to a list of variable names and one line descriptions only.
- Weighted or unweighted: weighted.
- Household income data: yes, both gross and net. Equivalised net income is available either before or after deducting housing costs.
In addition to the dataset itself, the Department of Work and Pensions publishes an annual report giving many statistical analyses from the dataset.
General issues
As will become apparent from the discussion below, HBAI is a difficult dataset to use and it is easy to make mistakes. The lack of documentation adds further difficulty. But its central importance means that any serious researcher in the field of poverty has to get to grips with it. The key is to take the time and effort to properly familiarise yourself with the dataset before using it and a useful discipline is to start by trying to duplicate the results in the Department of Work and Pension's annual HBAI reports.
Which software to use
As the annual dataset is around 33,000 records, it can be exported into Excel.
The importance of 'benefit units'
The HBAI dataset comprises a record for each 'benefit unit' and it is therefore important to understand what this term means and how in relates to both 'individuals' and to 'households'. This is discussed in detail in the page on households, families and benefit units. In summary, whereas a household is everyone who lives behind the same 'front door', a 'benefit unit' is an adult plus their spouse (if applicable) plus any dependent children they are living with. So, for example, a young adult living with their parents would count as one 'household' but two 'benefit units'. More generally:
- A household comprises one or more benefit units.
- A benefit unit comprises precisely one or two adults plus their dependent children.
The importance of 'equivalisation'
Most of the household income variables in HBAI are 'equivalised' income, rather than 'actual' income, and it is therefore important to understand what equalised income is and why it is used. This is discussed in detail in the page on choices of low-income threshold. In summary, 'equivalisation' is a process of adjusting household incomes for household composition and size such that those incomes can reasonably be directly compared with each other. This means increasing the incomes of small households and decreasing the incomes of large households and the extent of these increases and decreases is determined by an internationally agreed set of scales.
Income data before or after deducting housing costs?
Net (disposable) household income in HBAI is available in two forms, namely before or after deducting housing costs. The Department of Work and Pensions annual HBAI reports includes analyses on both bases and the results are often rather different on the two bases.
In common with most other commentators, most of our analysis is presented on an 'after deducting housing costs' basis, which is disposable income after housing costs have been deducted. The reasons for this are twofold: first, housing costs can vary considerably for people in otherwise identical circumstances (e.g. pensioners who have paid off their mortgage versus pensioners who are renting) without the people having any realistic ability to change these costs; and, second, unlike a 'before deducting housing costs' basis, the 'after deducting housing costs' calculations are not affected by such matters as whether housing benefit – which provides for the housing costs of many of the poorest - is considered to be income or not.
Data levels and naming conventions
Although each record is for a benefit unit, the actual data comprises a mixture of benefit unit, household and individual data. More specifically:
- Benefit unit level data: Most of the demographic variables, such as family type and work status, are at the level of the benefit unit and these variables typically end in the suffix 'bu'.
- Household level data: The income variables are mostly household-level variables (indicated by the suffix 'hh'). This is because it is household income, rather than either benefit unit income or individual income, which is used in assessing how poor or rich someone is. These variables will have the same value for all the benefit units in a given household.
- Individual level data: A few variables, such as age and sex, are individual level variables. As such, there will be two variables for each benefit unit, one for the head of the benefit unit (suffix 'hd') and the other - if applicable - for the spouse (suffix 'sp').
As discussed above, most of the household income variables are for equivalised, rather than actual, income and these variables typically have 'eq' as part of their name. But HBAI also records the actual net income from which this equivalisation calculation was performed, and these variables typically have 'nt' as part of their name. It also record gross (i.e. before tax) income and these variables typically have 'gr' as part of their name.
Finally, for historical reasons, many of the variables are recorded twice, with subtle differences in definition. The general naming convention here is that variables with the prefix 'h' use out-of-date definitions (and therefore never need to be used) whilst those with the prefix 'e' use up-to-date definitions (and are therefore the ones to use). One important variable, however, does not use these conventions: it is the family type variable, where the field NEWFAMBU is the up-to-date definition and the field FAMBU is the out-of-date definition.
The table below summarises the naming conventions.
| Type of naming convention | Value | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Suffix | hd | the variable relates to the head of the benefit unit |
| sp | the variable relates to the spouse of the benefit unit | |
| bu | the variable is a benefit unit level variable | |
| hh | the variable is a household level variable (and thus has the same value for all benefit units in the household) | |
| Prefix | e | the variable uses an up-to-date definition |
| h | the variable uses an out-of-date definition (effectively means that it never need be used and that the equivalent variable beginning with 'e' should be used instead) | |
| Other | gr | the variable relates to gross income |
| nt | the variable relates to net income | |
| eq | the variable relates to equivalised income |
What weights to use
In most datasets, the results are calculated by multiplying the field of interest by a weight field. For example, if there were 3 children in the benefit unit and the benefit unit has a weight of 1,000 then that benefit unit in the survey represents 3,000 children in the population. HBAI does things differently in that it does this multiplication for you. Thus, in addition to the benefit unit weight (GS_NEWBU), it also includes variables for the weighted numbers of children, working-age adults, pensioners and population as a whole. The table below lists these variables.
| Variable name | Variable description |
|---|---|
| GS_NEWBU | Benefit unit weight |
| GS_NEWCH | Weighted number of children represented by the benefit unit |
| GS_NEWPN | Weighted number of pensioners represented by the benefit unit |
| GS_NEWPP | Weighted number of children represented by the benefit unit |
| GS_NEWWA | Weighted number of working-age adults represented by the benefit unit |
UK-wide analysis or Great Britain-wide analysis?
Whilst the HBAI datasets from 2002/03 onwards are for the whole of the UK, those for earlier years are for Great Britain only. For time trends, this raises the issue of whether these should be for UK as a whole or for Great Britain only. This website has adopted the following approach:
- When the results are in rates, use the UK-wide rates from 2002/03 onwards and the Great Britain-wide rates for earlier years. This effectively assumes that Northern Ireland would not have made a material difference to the results for the earlier years, an assumption which is reasonable because Northern Ireland has both a small population and low income rates which are similar to the Great Britain average.
- When the results are in terms of absolute numbers, use the UK-wide numbers from 2002/03 onwards and inflate the Great Britain-wide numbers for earlier years by the ratio of the UK and Great Britain populations. Clearly, a more sophisticated approach could have been adopted, for example using differing inflation ratios for different age groups, but sensitivity analysis demonstrated that these would make no discernable difference to the results.
What variables to use and what do they mean
Clearly, the variables to be used will vary according to the purpose at hand. There are, however, a small number of variables which will be used much more than any of the others. The table below lists these variables.
| Variable name | Variable description |
|---|---|
| ECOBU | The work status of the benefit unit |
| GVTREGN | Government Office Region |
| NEWFAMBU | The family type of the benefit unit |
| S_OE_AHC | The equivalised net income, after deducting housing costs, of the household of which the benefit unit is a part, where OECD scales have been used for the equivalisation |
| S_OE_BHC | The equivalised net income, before deducting housing costs, of the household of which the benefit unit is a part, where OECD scales have been used for the equivalisation |
In most datasets, each variable has both a name and a description but in HBAI most of the variables only have names and no description. The dataset is, however, accompanied by a spreadsheet which provides descriptions for some (but by no means all) of the variables. The table below lists these for the 2005/06 HBAI dataset. The list is sorted by whether or not the variable is used in any of the calculations underlying the graphs in this website and, within this, by alphabetical order of name.
| Variable name | Official variable description | Used in this website? | Extent of use |
|---|---|---|---|
| ADULTB | Number of adults in benefit unit | yes | minor |
| AGEHD | Age of head | yes | minor
|
| AGESP | Age of spouse | yes | minor |
| BENUNIT | Position of benefit unit in household | yes | minor |
| CTBAND | Council Tax band | yes | minor |
| CTCBU | Amount of Child Tax Credit for the Benefit Unit | yes | minor |
| CTLIAB | Amount of council tax the household is liable for | yes | minor |
| CTREBAM1 | Amount of council tax rebate the household receives | yes | minor |
| DEPCHLDH | Number of dependant children in the household | yes | minor |
| DISABFLG | Number of disabled adults in the benefit unit | yes | minor |
| ECOBU | Economic status of the benefit unit | yes | major |
| EHBENBU | FRS extended - housing benefit for benefit unit | yes | minor |
| EHCOST | FRS extended - total housing costs. | yes | minor |
| EQOAHCHH | Household level OECD equivalence scale for BHC income | yes | minor |
| EQOBHCHH | Household level OECD equivalence scale for AHC income | yes | minor |
| ERENTBU | FRS extended - rent component of housing costs for the benefit unit | yes | minor |
| ESGINVBU | FRS extended - SPI'd gross investment income for the benefit unit | yes | minor |
| ESGJOBBU | FRS extended - SPI'd gross employment income for the benefit unit | yes | minor |
| ESGOCCBU | FRS extended - SPI'd gross occupational pension income for the benefit unit | yes | minor |
| ESGRSEBU | FRS extended - SPI'd gross self-employment income for the benefit unit | yes | minor |
| ESMISCBU | FRS extended - SPI'd total miscellaneous income for the benefit unit | yes | minor |
| ESPRIBBU | FRS extended - SPI'd private benefit income for the benefit unit | yes | minor |
| ETHGRPHH | Ethnic group of household | yes | minor |
| GS_NEWBU | FRS extended - SPI'd benefit unit grossing factor | yes | major |
| GS_NEWCH | FRS extended - SPI'd dependant children grossing factor | yes | major |
| GS_NEWPN | FRS extended - SPI'd pensioner grossing factor | yes | major |
| GS_NEWPP | FRS extended - SPI'd population grossing factor | yes | major |
| GS_NEWWA | FRS extended - SPI'd working-age adults grossing factor | yes | major |
| GVTREGN | Government Office Region | yes | major |
| INCHILBU | Total childrens income in the benefit unit | yes | minor |
| ISBU | Total income support for the benefit unit | yes | minor |
| KID0_1 | Number of children aged 0 and 1 in the benefit unit | yes | minor |
| KID11_12 | Number of children aged 11 and 12 in the benefit unit | yes | minor |
| KID13_15 | Number of children aged 13, 14 and 15 in the benefit unit | yes | minor |
| KID16_18 | Number of children aged 16, 17 and 18 in the benefit unit | yes | minor |
| KID2_4 | Number of children aged 2,3 and 4 in the benefit unit | yes | minor |
| KID5_7 | Number of children aged 5, 6 and 7 in the benefit unit | yes | minor |
| KID8_10 | Number of children aged 8, 9 and 10 in the benefit unit | yes | minor |
| LONDON | Inner or Outer London flag | yes | minor |
| MDOEAHC | The median of S_OE_AHC | yes | minor |
| MDOEBHC | The median of S_OE_BHC | yes | minor |
| MNOEAHC | The average of S_OE_AHC | yes | minor |
| NEWFAMBU | New family type for the benefit unit | yes | major |
| OAHCDEC | AHC deciles from S_OE_AHC income variable, including self-employed (OECD) | yes | minor |
| OBHCDEC | BHC deciles from S_OE_BHC income variable, including self-employed (OECD) | yes | minor |
| S_OE_AHC | FRS extended - deflated, equivalised, new SPI AHC income (OECD) | yes | major |
| S_OE_BHC | FRS extended - deflated, equivalised, new SPI BHC income (OECD) | yes | major |
| SERNUM | Serial number of the household | yes | minor |
| SEXHD | Sex of the head 1= Male, 2= female | yes | minor |
| SEXSP | Sex of the spouse | yes | minor |
| TENTYP2 | The tenure type of the household | yes | minor |
| TENURE | Tenure | yes | minor |
| UNDER14 | Number of children under 14 years of age in the household (OECD) | yes | minor |
| WTCBU | Amount of Working Tax Credit for the Benefit Unit | yes | minor |
| ADULTH | Number of adults in household | no | |
| AHCDEF | Used to deflate AHC income to the average of the survey year | no | |
| BENUNITS | Number of Benefit Units within the household | no | |
| BHCDEF | Used to deflate BHC income to the average of the survey year | no | |
| BOYS | Number of boys in benefit unit | no | |
| CHARGHH | Total household service charges | no | |
| CHRGAMT1 | Amount paid for Ground Rent | no | |
| CHRGAMT2 | Amount paid for feu duty | no | |
| CHRGAMT3 | Amount paid for chief rent | no | |
| CHRGAMT4 | Amount paid for service charge | no | |
| CHRGAMT5 | Amount paid for regular maintenance | no | |
| CHRGAMT6 | Amount paid for site rent | no | |
| CHRGAMT7 | Amount paid for factoring | no | |
| CHRGAMT8 | Amount paid for other regular charges | no | |
| CHRGAMT9 | Amount paid for combined services | no | |
| CONTV1 | Whether household has colour TV set | no | |
| CONTV2 | Whether household has black/white TV set | no | |
| COVOTHS | Insurance premium: what covered | no | |
| CWATHH | household water charges | no | |
| DEPCHLDB | Number of dependant children in the benefit unit | no | |
| EAHCHH | FRS extended - unequivalised, undeflated, un-spi'd after housing costs income for the household | no | |
| EBENINBU | FRS extended - total benefit income for the benefit unit | no | |
| EBENINHH | FRS extended - total benefit income for the household | no | |
| EGRERNBU | FRS extended - gross earnings for the benefit unit | no | |
| EGRERNHH | FRS extended - gross earnings for the household | no | |
| EGRINCBU | FRS extended - gross income for the benefit unit | no | |
| EGRINCHH | FRS extended - gross income for the household | no | |
| EMISCIBU | FRS extended - total miscellaneous income for the benefit unit | no | |
| EMISCIHH | FRS extended - total miscellaneous income for the household | no | |
| ENTERNBU | FRS extended - net earnings for the benefit unit | no | |
| ENTERNHH | FRS extended - net earnings for the household | no | |
| ENTINCBU | FRS extended - net income for the benefit unit | no | |
| ENTINCHH | FRS extended - net income for the household | no | |
| EOTHDEBU | FRS extended - other deductions for the benefit unit | no | |
| EOTHDEHH | FRS extended - other deductions for the household | no | |
| EPRIBNBU | FRS extended - private benefit income for the benefit unit | no | |
| EPRIBNHH | FRS extended - private benefit income for the household | no | |
| EQMAHCHH | Household level McClements equivalence scale for AHC income | no | |
| EQMAHCKD | McClements equivalence factor for all children in household - AHC | no | |
| EQMBHCHH | Household level McClements equivalence scale for BHC income | no | |
| EQMBHCKD | McClements equivalence factor for all children in household - BHC | no | |
| EQMCOUP | Status of adults in the benefit unit (McClements) | no | |
| ERENTHH | FRS extended - rent component of housing costs for the household | no | |
| ERICNPBU | Benefit unit SPI flag - non pensioner | no | |
| ERICNPHH | Household SPI flag - non pensioner | no | |
| ERICPBU | Benefit unit SPI flag - pensioner | no | |
| ERICPHH | Household SPI flag - pensioner | no | |
| ES_HCOST | FRS extended - SPI'd total housing costs | no | |
| ESAHCHH | FRS extended - SPI'd after housing costs income | no | |
| ESBENIBU | FRS extended - SPI'd total benefit income for the benefit unit | no | |
| ESBENIHH | FRS extended - SPI'd total benefit income for the household | no | |
| ESGINCBU | FRS extended - SPI'd gross income for the benefit unit. | no | |
| ESGINCHH | FRS extended - SPI'd gross income for the household | no | |
| ESGINVHH | FRS extended - SPI'd gross investment income for the household | no | |
| ESGJOBHH | FRS extended - SPI'd gross employment income for the household | no | |
| ESGOCCHH | FRS extended - SPI'd gross occupational pension income for the household | no | |
| ESGRSEHH | FRS extended - SPI'd gross self-employment income for the household | no | |
| ESMISCHH | FRS extended - SPI'd miscellaneous income for the household | no | |
| ESNINCBU | FRS extended - SPI'd net income for the benefit unit | no | |
| ESNINCHH | FRS extended - SPI'd household net income | no | |
| ESOTHDBU | FRS extended - SPI'd other deductions for the benefit unit | no | |
| ESOTHDHH | FRS extended - SPI'd other deductions for the household | no | |
| ESPRIBHH | FRS extended - SPI'd private benefit income for the household | no | |
| FAMBU | The family type of the benefit unit (pre-0102 - replaced with NEWFAMBU) | no | |
| FAMTHBAI | Family type-HBAI definition | no | |
| FSMBU | BU-Value of Free school meals | no | |
| FSMLKBU | BU-Value of Free school milk | no | |
| FWMLKBU | BU-Value of Free welfare milk | no | |
| G_NEWAD | FRS extended - adult grossing factor | no | |
| G_NEWBU | FRS extended - benefit unit grossing factor | no | |
| G_NEWCH | FRS extended - dependant children grossing factor | no | |
| G_NEWHH | FRS extended - household grossing factor | no | |
| G_NEWPN | FRS extended - pensioner grossing factor | no | |
| G_NEWPP | FRS extended - population grossing factor | no | |
| G_NEWWA | FRS extended - working-age adult grossing factor | no | |
| GINSEBU | Total gross self-employment income for benefit unit | no | |
| GNEWHHP | Household level population weight | no | |
| GS_NEWAD | FRS extended - SPI'd adult grossing factor | no | |
| GS_NEWHH | FRS extended - SPI'd household grossing factor | no | |
| HBENBU | Benefit unit level housing benefit income | no | |
| HBENHH | Household housing benefit income | no | |
| HBENINBU | FES equivalent - total benefit income for the benefit unit | no | |
| HBENINHH | FES equivalent - total benefit income for the household | no | |
| HBMORT | FES equivalent - mortgage interest component of housing costs | no | |
| HBXMORT | FRS extended - mortgage interest component of housing costs | no | |
| HGRERNBU | FES equivalent - gross earnings for the benefit unit | no | |
| HGRERNHH | FES equivalent - gross earnings for the houshold | no | |
| HGRINCBU | FES equivalent - gross income for the benefit unit | no | |
| HGRINCHH | FES equivalent - gross income for the household | no | |
| HGRINVBU | FES equivalent - gross investment income for the benefit unit | no | |
| HGRINVHH | FES equivalent - gross investment income for the household | no | |
| HGROCCBU | FES equivalent - gross occupational pension income for the benefit unit | no | |
| HGROCCHH | FES equivalent - gross occupational pension income for the household | no | |
| HHCOST | FES equivalent - total housing costs | no | |
| HHSTAT | Household status (conventional/shared) | no | |
| HMISCIBU | FES equivalent - total miscellaneous income for the benefit unit | no | |
| HMISCIHH | FES equivalent - total miscellaneous income for the household | no | |
| HNTERNBU | FES equivalent - net earnings for the benefit unit | no | |
| HNTERNHH | FES equivalent - net earnings for the household | no | |
| HNTINCBU | FES equivalent - net income for the benefit unit | no | |
| HNTINCHH | FES equivalent - net income for the household | no | |
| HNTINVBU | FES equivalent - net investment income for the benefit unit | no | |
| HNTINVHH | FES equivalent - net investment income for the household | no | |
| HNTOCCBU | FES equivalent - net occupational pension income for the benefit unit | no | |
| HNTOCCHH | FES equivalent - net occupational pension income for the household | no | |
| HPRIBNBU | FES equivalent - private benefit income for the benefit unit | no | |
| HPRIBNHH | FES equivalent - private benefit income for the household | no | |
| HRENTHH | FES equivalent - gross rent for the household | no | |
| INCHILHH | Total childrens income in the household | no | |
| INSEBU | Total net self-employment earnings for the benefit unit | no | |
| INTDATE | Interview date (dd/mm/yy) | no | |
| INTPRPAY | Amount of last installment on the loan | no | |
| KIDECOBU | Children's economic status | no | |
| MAHCDEC | AHC deciles from S_MC_AHC income variable, including self-employed (McClements) | no | |
| MAHCDECX | AHC deciles from S_MC_AHC income variable, excluding self-employed (McClements) | no | |
| MBHCDEC | BHC deciles from S_MC_BHC income variable, including self-employed (McClements) | no | |
| MBHCDECX | BHC deciles from S_MC_BHC income variable, excluding self-employed (McClements) | no | |
| MC_AHC | FRS extended - deflated, equivalised AHC income (McClements) | no | |
| MC_BHC | FRS extended - deflated, equivalised BHC income (McClements) | no | |
| MC_GRO | FRS extended - deflated, equivalised gross income (McClements) | no | |
| MDMCAHC | The median of S_MC_AHC | no | |
| MDMCAHCX | The median of S_MC_AHC, excluding the self-employed | no | |
| MDMCBHC | The median of S_MC_BHC | no | |
| MDMCBHCX | The median of S_MC_BHC, excluding the self-employed | no | |
| MDOEAHCX | The median of S_OE_AHC, excluding the self-employed | no | |
| MDOEBHCX | The median of S_OE_BHC, excluding the self-employed | no | |
| MNMCAHC | The average of S_MC_AHC | no | |
| MNMCAHCX | The average of S_MC_AHC, excluding the self-employed | no | |
| MNMCBHC | The average of S_MC_BHC | no | |
| MNMCBHCX | The average of S_MC_BHC, excluding the self-employed | no | |
| MNOEAHCX | The average of S_OE_AHC, excluding the self-employed | no | |
| MNOEBHC | The average of S_OE_BHC | no | |
| MNOEBHCX | The average of S_OE_BHC, excluding the self-employed | no | |
| MORINPAY | Amount of mortgage interest paid | no | |
| MORINPD | Pcode: amount of mortgage interest paid | no | |
| MORINUS | Whether mortgage interest usual | no | |
| MORTLEFT | Amount outstanding on mortgage | no | |
| MORTSEQ | Mortgage Sequence Number | no | |
| MORTTYPE | Type of mortgage/loan | no | |
| MORUS | Amount of usual mortgage interest paid | no | |
| MPPINT | Total payments per mortgage | no | |
| MQINAHC | AHC quintiles from S_MC_AHC income variable, including self-employed | no | |
| MQINAHCX | AHC quintiles from S_MC_AHC income variable, excluding self-employed | no | |
| MQINBHC | BHC quintiles from S_MC_BHC income variable, including self-employed | no | |
| MQINBHCX | BHC quintiles from S_MC_BHC income variable, excluding self-employed | no | |
| MSFLAGHH | Household flag to identify missing spouse benefit units | no | |
| NINRV | Net Rateable Value Of Property (NI) | no | |
| NIRATE | Amount of District Council Rate (NI) | no | |
| NORATE | Why no rate bill (NI) | no | |
| OAHCDECX | AHC deciles from S_OE_AHC income variable, excluding self-employed (OECD) | no | |
| OBHCDECX | BHC deciles from S_OE_BHC income variable, excluding self-employed (OECD) | no | |
| OE_AHC | FRS extended - deflated, equivalised AHC income (OECD) | no | |
| OE_BHC | FRS extended - deflated, equivalised BHC income (OECD) | no | |
| OE_GRO | FRS extended - deflated, equivalised gross income (OECD) | no | |
| OQINAHC | AHC quintiles from S_OE_AHC income variable, including self-employed | no | |
| OQINAHCX | AHC quintiles from S_OE_AHC income variable, excluding self-employed | no | |
| OQINBHC | BHC quintiles from S_OE_BHC income variable, including self-employed | no | |
| OQINBHCX | BHC quintiles from S_OE_BHC income variable, excluding self-employed | no | |
| OVER14 | Number of children over 14 years of age in the household (OECD) | no | |
| RENTBU | FES equivalent - rent component of housing costs for the benefit unit | no | |
| RTCHECK | Weeklyised amount of Annual rates paid (NI) | no | |
| RTREBAMT | Amount of Rate Rebate allowed (NI) | no | |
| S_MC_AHC | FRS extended - deflated, equivalised, new SPI AHC income (McClements) | no | |
| S_MC_BHC | FRS extended - deflated, equivalised, new SPI BHC income (McClements) | no | |
| S_MC_GRO | FRS extended - deflated, equivalised, new SPI gross income (McClements) | no | |
| S_OE_GRO | FRS extended - deflated, equivalised, new SPI gross income (OECD) | no | |
| SEHHFLG | Number of full time self-employed persons in the household | no | |
| SERINC1 | Services included in rent: heating | no | |
| SERINC2 | Services included in rent: lighting | no | |
| SERINC3 | Services included in rent: hot water | no | |
| SERINC4 | Services included in rent: cooking fuel | no | |
| SERINC5 | Services included in rent: TV licence | no | |
| SEWAMT | Sewerage rates: amount paid last time | no | |
| SEWERAGE | Sewerage charges for households in Scotland | no | |
| SFRPABU | Amount of social fund repayments from the benefit unit | no | |
| SFRPAHH | Amount of social fund repayments from the household | no | |
| SHTSEFLG | Number short-term self-employed (less than one month) in the household | no | |
| SNPHCOST | Average of housing costs for rich non-pensioner households | no | |
| SPHCOST | Average of housing costs for rich pensioner households | no | |
| SRENTBU | Ben unit accumulation of rent paid by adults in shared households | no | |
| STRAMT1 | Amount: Insurance part of repayment | no | |
| STRAMT2 | Amount: Insurance premium | no | |
| STRCOV | Items covered by insurance policy | no | |
| STRMORT | Whether mortgage payments inc. insurance | no | |
| STROTHS | Whether pay structural insurance | no | |
| SUBRENT | Amount of rent from subletting | no | |
| TOTSTHH | FES - Total structural insurance | no | |
| TOTSTRHH | FRS - Total structural insurance | no | |
| TVLIC | Whether claims concessionary TV licence | no | |
| TVLICBU | Amount of concessionary TV licence allocated to the benunit | no | |
| TVLICHH | Amount of concessionary TV licence allocated to the household | no | |
| WATAMT | Water rates: amount paid last time | no | |
| WATSEWHH | Total amount of water and sewerage charges for the household | no | |
| WATSEWRT | Total Water and Sewerage | no | |
| WHYNOCT | Reason for paying no Council Tax (Great Britain) | no | |
| WINPAYBU | Total winter fuel payment for benefit unit | no | |
| WSEWAMT | Combined water/sewer rates: amount paid | no | |
What do the values of the variables mean
The values of some variables take the value of codes which only make sense if one knows what the codes mean. In most datasets, both the code and its meaning are stored. In HBAI, however, only the codes themselves are stored and are thus meaningless unless one knows what the codes mean. The table below list the fields in the 2005/06 HBAI dataset which are of this type together with the meaning of each code value.
| Variable name | Description | Code values and descriptions |
|---|---|---|
| SEXHD/SP | Sex of head/spouse | 1 = male 2 = female |
| ECOBU | Economic status of the benefit unit | 1 = One or more self-employed 2 = Single or couple, all in full-time work 3 = Couple, one in full-time work, one part-time 4 = Couple, one in full-time work, one not working 5 = No full-time work, one or more in part-time work 6 = Workless, head or spouse aged 60 or over 7 = Workless, head or spouse unemployed 8 = Workless, other economically inactive Note that this coding is implemented in a hierarchical fashion. So, for example, code 2 means that the benefit unit is a single or couple, all in full-time work, but that neither is self-employed. And, code 7 means that the benefit unit is workless, with head or spouse unemployed, but with neither aged 60 or over. |
| ETHGRPHH | Ethnic group of household | 1 = White - British 2 = Any other white background 3 = Mixed - White and Black Caribbean 4 = Mixed - White and Black African 5 = Mixed - White and Asian 6 = Any other mixed background 7 = Asian or Asian British - Indian 8 = Asian or Asian British - Pakistani 9 = Asian or Asian British - Bangladeshi 10 = Any other Asian/Asian British background 11 = Black or Black British - Caribbean 12 = Black or Black British - African 13 = Any other Black/Black British background 14 = Chinese 15 = Any other |
| KIDECOBU | Children's economic status | 1 = Lone parent: in full-time work 2 = Lone parent: in part-time work 3 = Lone parent: not working 4 = Couple: one or more full-time self employed 5 = Couple: both in full-time work 6 = Couple: one in full-time work, one in part-time work 7 = Couple: one in full-time work, one not working 8 = Couple: one or more in part-time work only 9 = Couple: both not in work |
| NEWFAMBU | Family type of benefit unit | 1 = Pensioner couple (where one or more adults are state pension age or over) 2 = Single male pensioner 3 = Single female pensioner 4 = Working-age couple with children 5 = Working-age single with children 6 = Working-age couple without children 7 = Single working-age male without children 8 = Single working-age female without children Note that there is another variable which give the family type - FAMBU - but that there is not need ever to use this variable as it uses out-of-date definitions. |
| GVTREGN | Government Office Region | 1 = North East 2 = North West 4 = Yorkshire and the Humber 5 = East Midlands 6 = West Midlands 7 = Eastern 8 = London 9 = South East 10 = South West 11 = Wales 12 = Scotland 13 = Northern Ireland |
| LONDON | Inner or outer London flag | 1 = inner London 2 = outer London 3 = not London |
| TENTYP2 | Tenure type of household | 1 = LA rented unfurnished 2 = Housing Association 3 = Other rented unfurnished 4 = Private rented furnished 5 = Owned with mortgage 6 = Owned outright 7 = Rent free 8 = Other Crown Est/Govt. 9 = Co-ownership schemes 10 = Shared ownership |
| TENURE | Tenure | 1 = Owns it outright 2 = Buying with the help of a mortgage 3 = Part own, part rent 4 = Rents 5 = Rent-free 6 = Squatting |
| CTBAND | Council Tax band | 1 = Band A 2 = Band B 3 = Band C 4 = Band D 5 = Band E 6 = Band F 7 = Band G 8 = Band H 9 = Household not valued separately |
| WHYNOCT | Reason for paying no Council Tax (Great Britain only) | 1 = Bill not yet received/not previously liable 2 = Bill not yet paid/not previously liable 3 = Deliberate non-payment 4 = Household only recently moved in 5 = Household has formal exemption from the tax 6 = Other reason |
| NORATE | Why no rate bill (Northern Ireland only) | 1 = Rented accommodation with rates included in rent 2 = Rent/rates free 3 = Receive rebate 4 = Other reason |
Specific issues
Links to the Family Resources Survey dataset
The HBAI dataset is derived from the FRS dataset and, as there is precisely one record in the FRS benefit unit table for every record in the HBAI dataset, the two datasets can be linked together using a combination of the household serial number and the benefit unit number. This can be useful for certain types of analysis (e.g. by religion) where the data is in FRS but not in HBAI.
Analysis by fixed income thresholds
To calculate the numbers below a fixed threshold, this threshold needs to be calculated after taking account of inflation. Obtain the monthly retail price indices from the ONS site. For the years from 2000/01 onwards, calculate the index as the average for the twelve months covered by the dataset using the 'all items excluding housing' (CHAZ) index. For earlier years, use the following table to decide which monthly index to use.| Year | Appropriate monthly index |
|---|---|
| 1994/95 | Jul 1996 |
| 1995/96 | Jun 1997 |
| 1996/97 | Apr 1998 |
| 1997/98 | Apr 1999 |
| 1998/99 | Feb 2000 |
| 1999/00 | Dec 2000 |
This is because it is only from 2000/01 onwards that HBAI incomes are based on the average prices for the survey year. Prior to that, prices for particular months were used as itemised in the table above.
Relevant graphs on this website
UK graphs
| Indicator | Graphs | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Numbers in low income | first and second | Need to calculate the value of the fixed threshold for each subsequent year. |
| Location of low income | all | |
| The impact of housing costs | all | |
| Low income by age group | first | |
| second | Use the first year of HBAI (1995/95) rather than the usual 'decade earlier' as the baseline year. |
|
| third | ||
| fourth | HBAI now only records the age of the children by age group (0-1, 2-4, 5-7, 8-10, 11-12, 13-15 and 16-18) rather than by individual years (because the OECD equivalisation scales only require this). To calculate the numbers for a individual year, assume that the numbers for each of the individual years within the age group are the same). |
|
| Low income by family type | first | |
| second | The amounts below the 60% low-income threshold are unequivalised rather than equivalised. This is calculated by multiplying the equivalised amounts by the equivalisation factors. The equation is therefore (0.6 * MDOEAHC - S_OE_AHC)* EQOAHCHH. |
|
| Low income and ethnicity | first and second | Use 'White' rather than 'White British' as the latter is not available for the earlier years. Calculate 'White' as 'White British' plus 'Any other white background'. |
| third to sixth | Calculate 'ethnic minorities' as 'total' - 'White British' |
|
| Low income by gender | first to fifth | Exclude children as the graphs are for adults only. |
| sixth | Exclude children as the graph is for adults only. For couples, calculate the number of adults and assume that half are male and half are female (totally accurate apart from same sex couples). |
|
| Income inequalities | first to fourth | Follow the following process:
|
| fifth | Use the deciles field OAHCDEC to allocate people to income deciles. |
|
| In receipt of tax credits | third | Exclude both workless BUs and pensioner BUs. Allocate the BU to a tax credit group as follows:
|
| Children in low-income households | all bar the fourth | |
| fourth | Exclude pensioner BU family types as analysis by work status is not relevant to them. |
|
| Children in receipt of tax credits | all | Exclude workless BUs. Allocate the children to a tax credit group as follows:
|
| Young adults in low-income households | all | The analysis is for adults aged 16 to 24. |
| Low income by work status | all | The analysis is for Great Britain only as it is primarily numbers rather than rates. Exclude pensioner BU family types as analysis by work status is not relevant to them. |
| Low income and disability | all | The analysis is for adults aged 25 to retirement rather than all working-age adults. This is because the high prevalence of low income among younger adults combined with the low prevalence of disability in that age group arguably distorts, and certainly changes, the comparison between disabled and non-disabled people. Where the BU is a couple and only one of the couple is disabled, the dataset does not identify which is the one who is disabled. In those cases, where one is in the age group being analysed and the other is not, it is assumed that half of the disabled adults are in the age group being analysed. |
| Low income by age (working-age) | all | Note that, the analysis by disability is whether or not there any of the adults in the BU is disabled rather than whether or not the particular individual adult is disabled. |
| Low income and council tax | all | The analysis is for England and Wales only. In Scotland, water charges are included with Council Tax and everyone pays water charges so it is not possible to distinguish people who are paying no Council Tax. In Northern Ireland, there is a Rates system rather than Council Tax. Exclude those BUs where Council Tax is not applicable (CTLIAB=0) Decide whether the BU is in a household which is paying full, partial or no Council Tax by comparing their Council Tax liability (CTLIAB) with their Council Tax rebate (CTREBAM1):
For the third graph, then exclude those BUs who in the household who are not responsible for paying the Council Tax. This is because, in the HBAI dataset, Council Tax is actually a household-level variable rather than a BU-level variable but that it is the work status of the BUs that are responsible for paying this Council Tax which is relevant. Analysis of the Family Resources Survey, where Council Tax is recorded at the BU level, shows that this exclusion can be done with reasonable accuracy by excluding those BUs who are not the first BU in the household (i.e. BENUNIT > 1). Note that the consequent results are effectively the number of households in each Council Tax category for a given work status of the BU responsible for paying that Council Tax. |
| Older people in low income | all bar the fifth | |
| fifth | The amounts below the 60% low-income threshold are unequivalised rather than equivalised. This is calculated by multiplying the equivalised amounts by the equivalisation factors. The equation is therefore (0.6 * MDOEAHC - S_OE_AHC)* EQOAHCHH. | |
| Older people with no private income | first | The total income from all sources other than State benefits is INCHILBU + ESGJOBBU + ESGRSEBU + ESGINVBU + ESGOCCBU + ESPRIBBU +ESMISCBU - TVPAYHD. BUs are then considered to have not income other than State benefit if and only if this total is zero. The deduction of TVPAYHD is crucial: it is the amount of the free TV licence for those aged 75 and over and, for some reason, HBAI includes it as income in the ESMISCBU variable. So, unless it is excluded, all pensioner households aged 75 and over would count as having some income other than State benefits. |
| Polarisation by housing tenure | first | |
| Housing Benefit | second | Analyse by BU rather than by individual. Only include BUs who are paying rent (i.e. where the rent variable ERENTBU > 0). Inter alia, by excluding those BUs who are not paying rent but are living with other BUs who are paying rent (e.g. young adults living with their parents), this means that the count of relevant BUs is the same as the count of relevant households so the results can reasonably be interpreted as households. Decide whether the BU is getting Housing Benefit or not using the Housing Benefit variable EHBENBU (if >0 then getting Housing Benefit) For those getting Housing Benefit, decide whether it is full or partial by comparing ERENTBU with EHBENBU (only full if the two are equal). |
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland graphs
These are effectively a subset of the UK graphs using government region as a filter.