People in low income households
Published
- 1. Navigate toMain facts and figures section
- 2. Navigate toThings you need to know section
- 3. Navigate to By ethnicity section
- 4. Navigate to By ethnicity over time (before housing costs) section
- 5. Navigate to By ethnicity over time (after housing costs) section
- 6. Navigate to By ethnicity and age group (before housing costs) section
- 7. Navigate to By ethnicity and age group (after housing costs) section
- 8. Navigate toData sources section
- 9. Navigate toDownload the data section
1. Main facts and figures
- between April 2008 and March 2022, people in Pakistani and Bangladeshi households were consistently the most likely out of all ethnic groups to live in low income households, both before and after housing costs
- people in white British households were consistently the least likely to live in low income households, before and after housing costs
Further research:
A report from the Office for National Statistics in 2019 showed that most ethnic minority groups earned less than their white British counterparts. The exceptions were the Chinese, white Irish and Indian ethnic groups. These groups earned a higher typical hourly wage than white British employees.
Various additional factors further affect the ethnicity pay gap. For example, the gap is bigger for men than women, though in most ethnic groups men typically earn more than women. It is also bigger for people ages over 30 than for 16 to 29 year olds. The gap also varies by region – it is biggest in London, and smallest in Wales. When these factors are considered, the ethnicity pay gap is reduced for many, but not all ethnic groups.
Similar research by the Low Pay Commission found that the national minimum wage is more common among ethnic minority employees, women, and disabled people. It is even more common when these factors are combined, and minimum wage coverage was considerably higher for disabled ethnic minority women. Among individual ethnic groups, the minimum wage was most common for people with Bangladeshi and Pakistani backgrounds. The likelihood of the minimum wage for Indian employees was similar to that of white employees.
Research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (PDF opens in a new window or tab) suggests that people from ethnic minorities are more likely to experience disadvantaged childhoods than their white counterparts. Compared with white people, some ethnic minority groups still experience an employment disadvantage. This is where they have lower rates of employment among economically active adults. The IFS suggests that some of this employment gap is down to inherited economic disadvantages. It notes that while educational success can reduce the disadvantages, it cannot remove them completely.
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data shows the percentage of people living in households in low income in the UK.
Households are classed as being in low income if they live on less than 60% of the median net disposable equivalised UK household income.
For example, in the year ending March 2022, a household made up of a couple with no children would be in low income with an annual household income of up to £17,700 before housing costs and £15,600 after housing costs.
Household income is the total income of the household before tax, National Insurance and other deductions. It includes the value of free school meals, free TV licences and other income-based entitlements.
The data measures income before and after housing costs have been paid. Housing costs include rent or mortgage payments and insurance. These vary by region, as do ethnic minority communities.
The information relates to households of either one person or a group of people sharing cooking facilities and a living room or dining area. It must be their main or only home. Household incomes are adjusted (or ‘equivalised’) to take into account the number of adults and children who live there.
Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number, so some figures may not add up to 100%.
Not included in the data
Percentages based on fewer than 100 responses are not shown. This is to protect people’s confidentiality and because the numbers involved are too small to make reliable generalisations.
The ethnic groups used in the data
The data uses the list of ethnic groups from the 2011 Census.
Data is aggregated for each of the black, mixed and other ethnic groups, which means estimates are shown for these groups as a whole. Data is shown separately for white British and all other white people (‘white other’ ethnic group), and for the 5 Asian ethnic groups.
Some households contain people from different ethnic backgrounds. The ethnicity assigned to the household is that of the head of the household (usually the person with the highest income). The data does not account for people of different ethnic backgrounds who live in the same household.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for the data on this page.
For the period up to March 2020, data for 3 years has been combined to make sure estimates are reliable.
For the period after March 2020, 2 years of data have been combined – April 2019 to March 2020, and April 2021 to March 2022. This is because data collection for April 2020 to March 2021 was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. You can read more about combining multiple years of data and some of the issues involved.
Confidence intervals have not been worked out, so comparisons between ethnic groups may not be reliable.
The figures on this page are based on survey data. You can read more about:
- interpreting survey data
- how weighting is used to make survey results more representative of the whole population
In the data file
Download the data for figures for each 3-year and 2-year period covered by this data analysed by ethnicity and age group.
3. By ethnicity
| Ethnicity | Before Housing Costs | After Housing Costs |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| All | 17 | 22 |
| Asian | 27 | 37 |
| Bangladeshi | 39 | 53 |
| Chinese | 18 | 25 |
| Indian | 17 | 23 |
| Pakistani | 39 | 49 |
| Asian other | 20 | 39 |
| Black | 26 | 40 |
| Mixed | 17 | 26 |
| White | 16 | 19 |
| White British | 16 | 19 |
| White other | 15 | 24 |
| Other | 23 | 36 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of People in low income households By ethnicity Summary
The data shows that:
- 22% of people in the UK lived in households in low income after housing costs such as rent or mortgage payments were deducted
- 17% of people lived in households in low income before housing costs
- before housing costs, 39% of people in both Pakistani and Bangladeshi households lived in low income households – the highest percentages out of all ethnic groups
- after housing costs, 53% of people in Bangladeshi households and 49% in Pakistani households lived in low income households – the highest percentages out of all ethnic groups
- people in both white British and white ‘other’ households were the least likely to live in low income households before and after housing costs
4. By ethnicity over time (before housing costs)
| Ethnicity | 2008/09 to 2010/11 | 2009/10 to 2011/12 | 2010/11 to 2012/13 | 2011/12 to 2013/14 | 2012/13 to 2014/15 | 2013/14 to 2015/16 | 2014/15 to 2016/17 | 2015/16 to 2017/18 | 2016/17 to 2018/19 | 2017/18 to 2019/20 | 2018/19 to 2019/20 | 2019/20 to 2021/22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| All | 17 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 |
| Asian | 32 | 29 | 29 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 27 |
| Bangladeshi | 51 | 42 | 41 | 35 | 38 | 39 | 35 | 33 | 31 | 35 | 35 | 39 |
| Chinese | 21 | 26 | 32 | 31 | 23 | 21 | 21 | 26 | 27 | 25 | 21 | 18 |
| Indian | 23 | 20 | 19 | 17 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 17 |
| Pakistani | 45 | 44 | 43 | 40 | 38 | 38 | 40 | 40 | 40 | 41 | 41 | 39 |
| Asian other | 22 | 22 | 23 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 21 | 25 | 24 | 25 | 20 |
| Black | 29 | 24 | 24 | 25 | 23 | 25 | 25 | 27 | 26 | 27 | 27 | 26 |
| Mixed | 21 | 23 | 20 | 19 | 15 | 19 | 20 | 24 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 17 |
| White | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| White British | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| White other | 15 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 15 |
| Other | 29 | 28 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 24 | 27 | 25 | 27 | 25 | 23 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time (before housing costs)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time (before housing costs)’ (CSV)
Summary of People in low income households By ethnicity over time (before housing costs) Summary
The data shows that, before housing costs were paid:
- people in Pakistani and Bangladeshi households were the most likely to live in low income households out of all ethnic groups in every year covered by the data
- people in white British and white 'other' households were the least likely to live in low income households
- between 2011 and 2019 the percentage of people in Bangladeshi households living in low income went down from 51% to 31%; between 2019 and 2022 the percentage increased slightly to 39%
5. By ethnicity over time (after housing costs)
| Ethnicity | 2008/09 to 2010/11 | 2009/10 to 2011/12 | 2010/11 to 2012/13 | 2011/12 to 2013/14 | 2012/13 to 2014/15 | 2013/14 to 2015/16 | 2014/15 to 2016/17 | 2015/16 to 2017/18 | 2016/17 to 2018/19 | 2017/18 to 2019/20 | 2018/19 to 2019/20 | 2019/20 to 2021/22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| All | 22 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 |
| Asian | 41 | 39 | 39 | 37 | 36 | 35 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 37 | 37 | 37 |
| Bangladeshi | 63 | 53 | 56 | 52 | 51 | 50 | 49 | 50 | 53 | 55 | 56 | 53 |
| Chinese | 31 | 40 | 46 | 49 | 38 | 35 | 29 | 33 | 34 | 30 | 28 | 25 |
| Indian | 30 | 27 | 25 | 24 | 26 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 22 | 23 |
| Pakistani | 52 | 52 | 48 | 46 | 44 | 46 | 48 | 46 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 |
| Asian other | 41 | 41 | 42 | 39 | 35 | 32 | 33 | 39 | 41 | 42 | 41 | 39 |
| Black | 42 | 39 | 39 | 41 | 40 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 42 | 40 | 40 | 40 |
| Mixed | 36 | 39 | 38 | 33 | 26 | 29 | 32 | 36 | 34 | 32 | 29 | 26 |
| White | 20 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 |
| White British | 19 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 |
| White other | 27 | 28 | 28 | 29 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 24 |
| Other | 42 | 42 | 40 | 41 | 44 | 46 | 44 | 42 | 40 | 40 | 40 | 36 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time (after housing costs)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time (after housing costs)’ (CSV)
Summary of People in low income households By ethnicity over time (after housing costs) Summary
The data shows that, after housing costs were paid:
- people living in Pakistani and Bangladeshi households were the most likely to live in low income households out of all ethnic groups in every year covered by the data
- people living in white British households were consistently the least likely to be in low income households
- the percentage of people in Bangladeshi and mixed ethnicity households living in low income went down 10 percentage points in the years covered by the data – the biggest decreases out of all ethnic groups
- the percentage of Chinese households living in low income increased from 31% in 2011 to 49% in 2014, before decreasing to 25% by 2022
6. By ethnicity and age group (before housing costs)
| Ethnicity | All | Children | Working-age | Pensioners |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | |
| All | 17 | 21 | 15 | 19 |
| Asian | 27 | 34 | 23 | 27 |
| Bangladeshi | 39 | 46 | 36 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Chinese | 18 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 16 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Indian | 17 | 20 | 15 | 30 |
| Pakistani | 39 | 46 | 35 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Asian other | 20 | 24 | 19 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Black | 26 | 35 | 21 | 18 |
| Mixed | 17 | 20 | 15 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| White | 16 | 19 | 14 | 18 |
| White British | 16 | 18 | 14 | 18 |
| White other | 15 | 19 | 13 | 22 |
| Other | 23 | 30 | 20 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and age group (before housing costs)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and age group (before housing costs)’ (CSV)
Summary of People in low income households By ethnicity and age group (before housing costs) Summary
Data is shown for the following age groups:
- children – under 16 years old, or 16 to 19 if they are living with their parents, in full-time education or training, and not married or in a civil partnership
- working age – 16 years old to State Pension age
- pensioner – State Pension age or over
The data shows that, before housing costs were paid:
- among children, those in Pakistani and Bangladeshi households (both 46%) were the most likely to live in low income households
- children in white British (18%) and white ‘other’ (19%) households were the least likely to live in low income households
- among working age people, those living in Bangladeshi (36%) and Pakistani (35%) households were the most likely to live in low income households
- among pensioners, those in Indian households (30%) were the most likely to live in low income households – the number of pensioners surveyed in Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnic groups was too small to make any reliable conclusions
7. By ethnicity and age group (after housing costs)
| Ethnicity | All | Children | Working-age | Pensioners |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | % | |
| All | 22 | 30 | 20 | 18 |
| Asian | 37 | 47 | 33 | 29 |
| Bangladeshi | 53 | 62 | 48 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Chinese | 25 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 25 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Indian | 23 | 28 | 20 | 30 |
| Pakistani | 49 | 59 | 45 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Asian other | 39 | 50 | 36 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Black | 40 | 53 | 33 | 25 |
| Mixed | 26 | 33 | 21 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| White | 19 | 25 | 18 | 17 |
| White British | 19 | 25 | 18 | 17 |
| White other | 24 | 31 | 22 | 25 |
| Other | 36 | 48 | 31 | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and age group (after housing costs)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and age group (after housing costs)’ (CSV)
Summary of People in low income households By ethnicity and age group (after housing costs) Summary
Data is shown for the following age groups:
- children – under 16 years old, or 16 to 19 if they are living with their parents, in full-time education or training, and not married or in a civil partnership
- working age – 16 years old to State Pension age
- pensioner – State Pension age or over
The data shows that, after housing costs were paid:
- among children, those in Bangladeshi (62%) households were the most likely to live in low income households, and those in white British (25%) and Indian (28%) households were the least likely
- among working age adults, those in Bangladeshi (48%) and Pakistani (45%) households were the most likely to live in low income households, and those in white British (18%) and Indian (20%) households were the least likely
- among pensioners, those living in Indian (30%) and black households (25%) were the most likely to live in low income households, and those in white British households (17%) were the least likely – the number of pensioners surveyed in Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnic groups was too small to make any reliable conclusions
8. Data sources
Source
Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2022
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Department for Work and Pensions
Note on corrections or updates
Any 3-year estimates before the period from April 2012 to March 2015 may be different to the published Households Below Average Income tables due to a change in the ethnic groups shown.
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
Households Below Average Income is the main source of data about household income and inequality in the UK.
9. Download the data
This data file contains the following variables: measure, ethnicity, year, age group, value