Average weekly household expenditure: by household with HRP aged 18 to 29, 2007, UK
Young households in the UK where the household reference person (HRP) was aged 18 to 29 spent on average £460 per week in 2007. This amount was similar to the average for all households (£459), but lower than all other non-retired households. 'Young households' spent £102 per week (18 per cent) less than households whose HRP was aged 30 to 49, and £38 per week (8 per cent) less than households whose HRP was aged 50 to 64.
The commodity or service that 'young households' spent the most on a week was housing, fuel and power. On average, they spent £84, around £33 (63 per cent) more per week than the average for all households. The next largest expenditure was transport costs, with an average weekly spend of £56, followed by recreation and culture (£45 per week).
Sources of total weekly household income: by all households and those with a HRP aged 16 to 24, 2006/07, UK
In 2006/07, the average gross income for 'young households' where the HRP was aged 16 to 24 was £472 per week, £166 per week less than the average for all the households (who earned £638 per week). For 'young households' wages and salaries formed 63 per cent (£297 per week) of their total income, 20 percentage points less than households aged 25 to 34 (for whom wages and salaries was £593 from a total of £713 per week), and 14 percentage points less than those aged 35 to 44 (for whom wages and salaries was £610 from a total of £798 per week). Other sources of gross income included miscellaneous sources (£76 per week) and social security benefits (£50 per week).
On average, gross income was lower among households with a young HRP than among other non-retired households in 2007. Only 3 per cent of all the households were classed as young, but they made up 5 per cent of all those in the lowest two income groups, while there were no 'young households' in the highest income group.
In Great Britain 98 per cent of 'young households' where the HRP was aged 16 to 24 had some kind of savings in 2006/07. This figure was higher than in 1998–99, when 86 per cent of young households had some form of savings. Current accounts were the most common form of assets amongst 'young households' (held by 85 per cent), followed by Individual Savings Accounts (ISA) (24 per cent) and basic bank accounts (14 per cent). Only a small proportion of 'young households' held stocks and shares (6 per cent) and Premium Bonds (9 per cent). Source: Expenditure and Food Survey, Office for National Statistics; Family Resources Survey, Department for Work and Pensions
Notes: There is no single definition of 'young people' and 'young household' in literature. Therefore, accordingly with the sources used, 'young household' would refer to those with a Household Reference Person (HRP) aged: 18 to 29 for expenditures, 16 to 24 for income, 20 to 24 for income distribution, and 16 to 24 for savings.
A complete list of sources for the income component 'Other income' is available in 'Family Resources Survey’ 2006/07 (DWP).
The means incomes by source of income have been calculated using all households, irrespective of whether or not the household is in receipt of the income.
Income distribution is a ranking of the households based on their gross income, in an increasing order from the lowest to the highest income. The deciles of this distribution divide it into a number of equal parts, each of which contains the same number of households. Therefore, households in the first decile are those with the lowest income, up to those in the tenth decile, who have the highest income.
'Savings' refers to the total value of all assets and investments.
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