Poverty

There may infrequently be small discrepancies between equivalent figures published by Welsh Government and by DWP relating to relative income poverty. This is because of a difference in the way rates are calculated for datasets that are pooled across multiple years.

During quality assurance DWP identified that one Cost of Living payment had been omitted for Pension Credit recipients from the dataset which underpinned the FYE 2023 Households Below Average Income dataset across the UK. The revised figures are marked with an ‘[r]’. More details can be can be found at the Family Resource Survey collection page (see 'Links' below).

Estimates for periods which span the financial year ending (FYE) 2021 do not include the data collected during FYE 2021 in calculations. For the latest two periods shown, estimates formerly calculated as 3 to 5 year rolling averages are based on 2 to 4 year rolling averages that omit the FYE 2021 survey data. FYE 2021 estimates are unreliable as they are based on data collected during the first year of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, when lockdown rules severely disrupted the data collection.

Data collection during the financial year ending (FYE) 2022 was via telephone interviewing as opposed to the established face to face method used prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Although we have assessed the FYE 2022 data quality to be robust enough for publication, there remains some residual bias in the survey sample resulting from the change in survey mode. More information on data quality is available in the DWP technical report which accompanies the release of the FYE 2022 statistics.

The reports here contain data on the percentage of: all individuals, children, the working-age population and pensioners living in relative income poverty.

A person lives in relative income poverty if they live in a household where the household income is below 60% of the UK median household income.

Headline data
The headline data is from the Households Below Average Income publication from the Department of Work and Pensions. This data is given on a before and after housing costs are paid basis.

Other reports
The rest of the reports are based on further analysis of the Family Resources Survey which is the survey used in the Households Below Average Income publication. This extra analysis has been carried out by the Welsh Government. It is only given on an after housing costs are paid basis as this is the more widely used measure.

Number, risk and composition
Aside from the headline data, all other reports give three measures: number, risk and composition.