Spotlight

Effects of taxes and benefits on UK household income: financial year ending 2019
What's in the bulletin?
- People from White ethnic groups had, on average, around 60% higher original household income (pre-tax and benefits) compared with Black ethnic groups (£42,400 versus £26,500) in the financial year ending (FYE) 2019; while the effects of taxes and benefits reduces this gap, income was still 17% lower after all these redistributive measures.
- Employees who were working in occupations with a higher propensity for homeworking were on average more likely to have higher household disposable income in the FYE 2019.
- Around half of workers in the richest fifth of people worked in occupations that were least exposed to the coronavirus (COVID-19), compared with around one in five workers in the poorest fifth of people.

Household income inequality, UK: financial year ending 2019
What's in the bulletin?
- Income inequality in the UK increased slightly over the two years to financial year ending (FYE) 2019, to reach 34.7% according to estimates from our Living Costs and Food Survey; this means that levels of income inequality are broadly comparable with their FYE 2011 levels.
- Income inequality remains lower than the levels reached prior to the economic downturn; over the four years to FYE 2008 income inequality increased by an average of 1.2 percentage points per year to reach 38.6%, before falling to 34.1% by FYE 2011.
- Income inequality for people in retired households has increased by 4.2 percentage points to reach 31.6% over the five years to FYE 2019; income inequality for people in non-retired households has been broadly stable over this period.
Average household income, UK
Estimates of median and mean disposable income for people in the UK for the financial year ending 2019.
Datasets related to Income and wealth
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Effects of taxes and benefits on household income
Average annual incomes, taxes and benefits, and household characteristics of retired and non-retired households in the UK. Data for financial years, by quintile and decile groups, country and region and tenure type.
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Nowcasting household income in the UK
Provisional estimates of income and inequality measures for financial year ending 2018, alongside historical data.
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Economic well-being estimates
Full dataset of economic well-being indicators included or referenced in the quarterly release.
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Equivalised disposable household income
Average equivalised disposable income for all households
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Households receiving more in benefits than paid in taxes
The percentage of households in the UK who receive more in benefits (both cash benefits and benefits in kind) than they pay in taxes (both direct and indirect), from 1977 to 2012/13.
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Coronavirus and the social impacts on different ethnic groups in the UK
Estimates from the Understanding Society: COVID-19 Study, 2020, UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) and Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS) to explore the social impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on people from different ethnic groups in the UK.
Publications related to Income and wealth
Statistical bulletins
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Economic well-being, UK: April to June 2018
Presents a rounded and comprehensive basis for assessing changes in economic well-being through indicators that adjust or supplement more traditional measures such as gross domestic product (GDP).
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Effects of taxes and benefits on UK household income: financial year ending 2019
The redistribution effects on individuals and households of direct and indirect taxation and benefits received in cash or kind, analysed by household type and the changing levels of income inequality over time.
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Average household income, UK: financial year 2020
Final estimates of average household income in the UK, with analysis of how these measures have changed over time, accounting for inflation and household composition.
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Personal and economic well-being in Great Britain: January 2021
Estimates looking across multiple sources for personal and economic well-being to understand the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on people and households in Great Britain. Covers the period from March 2020 to December 2020.
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Effects of taxes and benefits on UK household income: financial year ending 2019
The redistribution effects on individuals and households of direct and indirect taxation and benefits received in cash or kind, analysed by household type and the changing levels of income inequality over time.
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Average household income, UK: financial year 2020
Final estimates of average household income in the UK, with analysis of how these measures have changed over time, accounting for inflation and household composition.
Articles
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Generational income: The effects of taxes and benefits
The effects of direct and indirect taxation and benefits received in cash or kind on household income, across the generations and by age.
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Persistent poverty in the UK and EU
Comparisons of persistent poverty between UK and other EU countries.
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Financial capability in Great Britain
This article describes the results of analysis of the financial capability measures contained in the 2010 to 2012 Wealth and Assets Survey, many of which were asked for the first time in this wave. It has been written by Andrea Finney and David Hayes of the University of Bristol’s Personal Finance Research Centre to follow the style of an Office for National Statistics statistical bulletin
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Early indicator estimates from the Wealth and Assets Survey
Preliminary estimates for Great Britain from the Wealth and Assets Survey using attitudinal data not dependent on thorough checking and imputation methodology.
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Family spending in the UK
Average weekly household expenditure on goods and services in the UK, by region, age, income, economic status, socio-economic class and household composition.
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General Lifestyle Survey
Includes chapters on health, smoking, drinking, households, families and access to vehicles.