UK average income by age bands

You asked:

I am interested in seeing the UK statistics for average disposable income for the below age bands:

<18
18-25
26-30
30-35
35+

Would you please supply the statistics for disposable income by month, year or both.

We said:

Thank you for your request for estimates of UK average disposable income by age bands.

Our disposable income estimates are compiled at the household rather than individual level, reflecting the fact that a number of sources of income (including various cash benefits) are received by households, not individuals. This means that it's not possible to straightforwardly produce a breakdown of disposable income by age group, however, we can provide estimates for average household disposable income by age of the household reference person (HRP)1, using estimates from the Effects of Taxes and Benefits on Household Income (ETB) series. ETB estimates are from the Living Costs and Food Survey (LCF) which is a voluntary sample survey of around 5,000 private households in the UK. We have produced estimates from 1986 to the financial year ending 2016 (latest available), estimates by month and for the exact age bandings that you requested are not available, however, we have produced the following breakdown:

Age of HRP:

15-19
20-24
25-29
30-34
35+

The estimates produced are mean equivalised2 household disposable income, by age of HRP, and are adjusted for inflation3.

Notes:

1. Household reference person (HRP)

   From 2001/02 the concept of household reference person (HRP) was adopted on all governments sponsored surveys in place of head of household.

   The household reference person is the householder who:

   • owns the household accommodation, or
   • is legally responsible for the rent of the accommodation, or
   • has the household accommodation as an emolument or perquisite, or
   • has the household accommodation by virtue of some relationship to the owner who is not a member of the household.

   If there are joint householders the household reference person will be the one with the higher income. If the income is the same, then the eldest householder is taken.

2. Equivalisation adjusts income to account for the effect of household composition on standard of living. This analysis uses the modified-OECD scale.

3. Income figures have been deflated to 2015/16 prices using the consumer price index including owner-occupiers' housing costs.