Title | Proportion of individuals living in poverty. |
National Indicator/Target | Decrease the proportion of individuals living in poverty. |
Brief Description | The proportion of individuals living in private households with an equivalised income of less than 60% of the UK median before housing costs. |
Strategic Objective(s) to Which Indicator Relates | This indicator informs progress in relation to all five Strategic Objectives: Wealthier and Fairer
Smarter
Healthier
Safer and Stronger, and
Greener. |
More Detailed Definitions |
Definitions of Keywords | The income measure used is equivalised net disposable income before housing costs. This is income from all sources (including earnings, benefits, tax credits, pensions, and investments) after deductions for income tax, national insurance contributions, council tax, pension contributions and maintenance payments but before deductions for housing costs such as rent and/or mortgage payments. (A before housing costs, rather than after housing costs, measure has been selected because it is internationally comparable.) Equivalisation sums the income of all householders, adjusts it to reflect the composition of the household, and applies the resulting income to all householders. Private Scottish Households refers to all households that are not communal establishments such as hostels, prisons or hospitals, for example. The median is the middle value when the household income of all individuals in the UK are ranked in order. Sixty percent of the median is an internationally recognised poverty threshold. |
Evidence Source | The data source is the Family Resources Survey (Households Below Average Income dataset). The unit of measurement is the individual. This is a direct measure of poverty and as such is central to the Government's aim to make Scotland Wealthier and Fairer, but given the interrelationship between poverty and education, crime, employment, housing, regeneration and health this indicator is also important to the Government's aims to make Scotland Smarter, Safer & Stronger, Healthier and Greener. |
Target in Relation to a Sub-Group of the Population | Child Poverty: The Scottish Government is committed to doing everything in its power to eradicate child poverty by 2020, in partnership with the UK government. Child poverty is measured on three Tiers: Tier 1: Absolute Poverty. This is the percentage of children living in households with an equivalised income of less than 60% of the 1998/99 UK median, adjusted for inflation. Tier 2: Relative Poverty. This is the percentage of children living in households with an equivalised income of less than 60% of the UK median in the current year. Tier 3: Combined Low Income and Material Deprivation. This is the percentage of children living in households with an equivalised income of less than 70% of the UK median in the current year AND with a Material Deprivation score of 25 or above. For further explanation of the methodology see http://www.dwp.gov.uk/ofa/related/final_conclusions.pdf |
Baseline and Past Trends | Indicator Baseline: Proportion of individuals living in poverty in 2006/07. Figures will be published in Spring 2008 in the Scottish Households Below Average Income Statistics Publication Notice. Chart 1: Proportion of individuals living in poverty 1998/99 - 2005/06 
Source: Family Resources Survey (Households Below Average Income) - Department of Work and Pensions Child poverty target baseline: 28% of children in Tier 1 (absolute) poverty, 28% of children in Tier 2 (relative) poverty and 19% of children in Tier 3 (combined low income and material deprivation) poverty. Chart 2: Percentage of children in Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 Poverty 
Source: Family Resources Survey (Households Below Average Income) - Department of Work and Pensions |
Methodology | The Family Resources Survey is a sample survey including approximately 4,500 households in Scotland. The responses of these households are weighted and grossed up to be representative of all private households in Scotland. The equivalised household income of each individual is compared to the UK median and the person is considered to be in low income poverty if their income is below that threshold. The weighted and grossed number of people below the threshold is then divided by the estimated number of individuals in private households in Scotland (from GROS population estimates) to provide this indicator. The OECD equivalisation scale is used. Estimates are accurate to within 2 percentage points (at a 90% confidence level). Confidence intervals surrounding the estimates are published on the Income and Poverty website methodology page. |
Data Ownership and Quality Assurance | Households Below Average Income is a National Statistics dataset owned by Department for Work and Pensions. |
Publication of Data | The indicator is published as part of the Scottish Households Below Average Income Statistics Publication Notice. The publication can be accessed through the Income and Poverty website. Key figures are also published in the High Level Summary of Statistics. |