FOI reference: FOI-2026-3784
You asked
Could you advise whether your latest available data can estimate the number and proportion of households resident in Wales that:
- have total net household wealth of £1 million or more and
- include at least one child aged nine months to under five years?
Please clarify whether your age data allow this breakdown. If not, please provide the closest available age group, such as children aged under five.
If feasible, I would also welcome an equivalent estimate excluding the main residence and private pension wealth.
Please include the reference period, definition of wealth, underlying sample size and any confidence intervals or reliability limitations. Please count each household once, regardless of how many qualifying children it contains.
This enquiry relates to claims about millionaire families benefiting from universal childcare in Wales.
We said
Thank you for your request concerning household wealth and young children in Wales.
We routinely publish estimates of household total wealth in Great Britain using the Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS), collected on a biennial basis and most recently available for Round 8 (April 2020 to March 2022). Our Total Wealth: Wealth in Great Britain data tables provide related information, notably Table 2.5 shows the proportion of Great Britain households with total wealth of £1 million or more; Table 2.8 shows household wealth by region, including Wales; and Table 2.9 shows wealth by household type, including households with dependent children.
WAS data cannot identify the precise group aged nine months to under five years, because data for children aged 0 to 4 years are grouped. However, WAS data could, in principle, support an estimate for households in Wales with net wealth of £1 million or more and at least one child aged 0 to 4 years, counting each household once. This would need to be produced as a bespoke analysis requiring specialist statistical skill and is likely to be chargeable in line with our charging policy. Please contact Wealth.and.assets.survey@ons.gov.uk to agree the specification, subject to disclosure controls, and obtain a cost estimate before any chargeable work proceeds. As this information is reasonably accessible via another route, even if only accessible on payment, Section 21(2)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) applies.
You might also be interested in previously published user-requested analysis of households with assets valued at £1 million or more covering the period July 2006-June 2014.
If you are interested in directly exploring our data further it is available on the UK Data Service for each release of WAS (Wave 1 to Round 8) you can access the microdata underlying the Wealth and Assets Survey, as well as the questionnaires and other accompanying documents for WAS. Access is subject to registration and End User License conditions.