Accredited official statistics

Family Resources Survey: financial year 2023 to 2024

Published 27 March 2025

Results from the Family Resources Survey (FRS) for the financial year 2023 to 2024, providing information on income and circumstances of UK households.

The FRS is a continuous household survey which collects information on a representative sample of private households in the United Kingdom.

Detailed information is recorded on each respondent:

• their incomes, from all sources including self employment
• housing tenure
• caring needs and responsibilities
• disability
• expenditure on housing
• education
• pension participation
• childcare
• family circumstances
• child maintenance
• household food security and food bank usage

1. Main stories

This report summarises the key findings from the Family Resources Survey for the financial year 2023 to 2024. The data in this report are from interviews conducted between April 2023 and March 2024.

The FRS 2023 to 2024 Background Information and Methodology document and the FRS Quality Assessment report available alongside this publication, set out several points to note in relation to this release.

We are seeking user feedback on this report, in terms of: the presentation of the statistics; the handling of the uncertainty with these statistics; and the guidance we have provided on interpretation. Please send comments to our email team.frs@dwp.gov.uk

Income and State Support

Income from employment and self employment continued to make up 74p of every £1 of household income.

Tenure

The percentage of households in the private and social rented sector combined has remained broadly the same over the last seven years at 36%.

Disability

In 2023 to 2024, one in four people were disabled. This continues the long-term trend of an increasing proportion of people reporting that they are disabled.

Care

Eight in every 100 people were providing informal care to someone else, and ten per cent of them were caring for more than one person. Five in every 100 people were in receipt of care every week, with 2 of these 5 receiving care continuously.

Pension Participation

The percentage of employees participating in a pension scheme has increased by 26 percentage points over the past decade, from 53% in 2013 to 2014 to 79% in 2023 to 2024. There has been a slight increase since last year of one percentage point.

Savings and Investment

The proportion of families with less than £1,500 in savings was 48%, which was the same as last year. Twenty per cent of families reported that they had no savings, and a further 10% said they had less than £100.

Self employment

For those working full-time, the difference between median net earnings of the self-employed, and median net earnings of employees, was at its smallest in a decade.

Household Food Security

The proportion of households which were food secure was the same in 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024, albeit lower than in preceding years.

The percentage of households which used a food bank within the past 30 days increased slightly from 1.4% in 2022 to 2023 to 1.5% in 2023 to 2024. Food bank usage within the past 12 months increased from 3.3% of households in 2022 to 2023 to 3.6% in 2023 to 2024.

Childcare

Among families using childcare, there were regional differences in the type used. Families in Scotland and Northern Ireland reported lower use of formal childcare (67% and 70% respectively) than families in England and Wales (79% and 75% respectively). This was a similar outcome to last year.

2. What you need to know

The primary purpose of the FRS is to provide the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) with data to inform the development, monitoring and evaluation of social welfare policy.

The survey is used by many other government departments and is used for tax and benefit policy modelling by HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs. The FRS is also used extensively by academics and research institutes for social and economic research.

For further contextual information on the statistics presented, as well as detailed information about FRS methodology, see the Background Information and Methodology and the FRS Quality Assessment report available alongside this publication.

Other FRS-based publications

The FRS provides the underlying data for these DWP Official and Accredited Official Statistics reports:

• Households Below Average Income
• Pensioners’ Incomes Statistics
• Income-Related Benefits: Estimates of Take-up

• Separated Families Statistics

• Below Average Resources

Additional tables and data

A comprehensive set of detailed tables are available as part of this publication. The tables are referenced throughout this report.

An anonymised version of the FRS dataset is available to download via the UK Data Archive and the Secure Research Service at ONS.

Households, benefit units and individuals

Results in this report, depending on the context, are presented at:

• household level
• family or benefit unit level
• individual level

Household level definition

One person living alone, or a group of people (not necessarily related) living at the same address, who share cooking facilities and share a living room, sitting room or dining area. A household will consist of one or more families and benefit units.

Family or benefit unit level definition

A single adult, or a couple living as married, and any dependent children.

3. Income and state support

Families (benefit units) by income received from state support, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

The percentage of families receiving state support decreased to 51%.

This is the second consecutive year in which the proportion of UK families receiving state support has decreased, to 51%. Estimates for the previous two years were 53% in 2021 to 2022 and 52% in 2022 to 2023. State support includes all state benefits, including the State Pension and Child Benefit.

Nineteen per cent of UK families received less than £10,000 per year from state support, which is equivalent to 6.9 million families. Twenty-one per cent of families received between £10,000 and less than £20,000 annually from state support, which equates to 7.3 million families. Twelve per cent of families received £20,000 or more per year from state support, equivalent to 4.1 million families.

See tables 2.14a and 2.14b for full data.

Receipt of state support by age of head of family, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

The percentage of families receiving state support varied by age of family head and type of benefit.

For working-age families, where the head was below the age of 65, the highest percentage of state support receipt was 51% (where the head of the family was aged 35 to 44 years). This is likely to be associated with a high proportion of such households (41%) who received Child Benefit. Nearly every family where the head was aged 65 and over received some form of state support; almost all of this group were receiving State Pension (as the qualifying age for this is 66).

Across all families, 20% received income-related benefits. For working-age families where the head of the family was aged 35 to 44 years the percentage receiving income-related benefits was 25%, the highest of all working-age groups. When the head of the family was in age groups 75 to 84 or 85 and over, 21% and 22% respectively received income-related benefits (which includes benefits such as Pension Credit).

See table 2.11 for full data.

Percentage of total gross household income from earnings by region, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

London had a higher proportion of income from employment than other regions.

Across the UK as a whole, income from employment accounted for 74% of gross household income. There were substantial regional variations: London had the highest proportion of income from employment at 83%, whilst the North East and Wales had the joint-lowest proportion at 68%.

Conversely, the North East had the highest proportion of income from state support at 21% whilst London had the lowest proportion at nine per cent.

The highest proportion of income from non-state pensions was 11% for the South West whilst the lowest proportion was for London at four per cent.

A minority of income (3%) came from other sources.

These regional differences are likely to be associated with the demographic and economic variations between regions.

See tables 2.2a and 2.2b for full data.

Sources of total gross household income, FYE 2014 to FYE 2024, United Kingdom

The proportion of income from each different source has been broadly stable over the past decade.

The share of income from employment remained the same as last year at 74%. Whilst this is a higher proportion than the past ten years, prior to 2021 to 2022 income from directors’ dividends was not included in this category.

The proportion of income from state support, that is, benefits including the State Pension and also Tax Credits, remained at 15% in 2023 to 2024. From 2013 to 2014 to 2023 to 2024, the proportion of income from state support has remained broadly stable.

The proportion of income from non-state pensions remained at eight per cent in 2023 to 2024. This was the same proportion as in almost every year since 2013 to 2014.

The proportion of income from other sources remained at three per cent, having consistently been five per cent from 2014 to 2015 to 2019 to 2020, then falling by one percentage point in 2020 to 2021 and again in 2021 to 2022. These sources include incomes from investments, rental incomes (landlord profits) and royalties, and grants.

See table 2.1 for full data.

4. Tenure

Households by tenure, FYE 2014 to FYE 2024, United Kingdom

The proportion of households owning outright increased again this year.

In 2023 to 2024, the percentage of households which owned their homes outright (37%) was higher than the percentage of households buying with a mortgage (28%). This represents a small widening of the gap between owners and mortgagors. The percentage of households in the private renting sector (19%) remained higher than that of households in the social renting sector (17%).

Over the past ten years, there has been a four percentage point increase in the number of households owning outright; other than in 2021 to 2022, the proportion has either been stable or has increased. The percentage of households who were buying with a mortgage decreased in each of the years between 2013 to 2014 and 2016 to 2017, from 31% to 28%, but has since fluctuated between 28% and 29%.

The renting sector has remained the most stable of the tenure types. Except for 2020 to 2021 the percentage of households in the private renting sector has been 19% in every year since 2017 to 2018. The percentage of households in the social renting sector shows a similar picture, remaining at 17% since 2016 to 2017.

See table 3.6 for full data.

Households by tenure and region/country, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

The greatest variation in tenure between the countries of the UK was in the renting sector. Scotland had the highest proportion of households in the social renting sector (21%) compared to a UK average of 17% and also had the lowest proportion in the private renting sector (14%) compared to the UK average of 19%.

Of the regions of England, London had the greatest differences compared to the England average. The proportion of households owned outright was 10 percentage points lower (26% in London) and the proportion of households in the private renting sector was 9 percentage points higher (28% in London). In Inner London only 19% of households owned their home outright, while 30% were in the private renting sector (compared with 19% for England as a whole).

For households in the social renting sector, the North East was the region with the highest proportion (26%), compared to 16% in the whole of England. In contrast, the South West had 12% of households in this sector (with the proportion owning outright in the South West being above-average, at 41%).

The variation between regions was smallest across households buying with a mortgage. The North East had the lowest proportion at 25%, and the South East the highest with 32%. The England average was 28%.

See table 3.1 for full data.

Median household weekly social rent payment by region, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

Social sector rents for all regions, except London and the South East, were within £15 per week of the UK median social sector rent (£105 per week).

The median social sector rent was highest in London, at £145 per week, and saw the largest percentage increase since last year (10%). This was £40 per week greater than the median for the UK. The lowest median social sector rent was seen in Yorkshire and the Humber, and Scotland, at £90 per week. This was £15 per week lower than the median social sector rent for the UK.

Median private sector rents were greater than median social sector rents for all regions. These differences may be partly due to social sector rents being controlled by Government-set formulae. Differences may also be associated with the private rented sector having a more varied range of housing stock in comparison with the social rented sector.

The greatest variety in the range of housing stock is typically within cities and this is reflected by the difference between private and social sector median rents in London of £188 per week. The smallest such difference was seen in Wales (£27 per week) and the North East (£28 per week).

See table 3.8 for full data.

Median household weekly private rent payment by region, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

The median private sector rent was much higher in London than all other regions.

The median private sector rent for London was £333 per week, which was £163 per week above the UK median and 11% higher than the previous year. The median private sector rent for London was almost three times the figure for the lowest region (the North East, at £120 per week, which was £50 per week below the UK median).

See table 3.8 for full data.

Median household weekly mortgage payment by region, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

Median instalments for repayment mortgages varied greatly by region.

The region with the highest median repayment was London, which at £298 per week was £123 per week above the median for the UK. London also saw the largest increase in the median repayment since the previous year, at 17%.

In contrast, the North East had the lowest median repayment at £120 per week (only two per cent higher than the previous year, the smallest increase among regions). This was £55 per week below the median for the UK. The difference in median repayment between London and the North East was £178 per week.

In the majority of regions, median mortgage payments were higher than median private sector rents, but typically with less than a £20 per week difference. The greatest similarity was in the North East and the North West where the median weekly amounts were the same, and the South East where the difference was £2 per week. The largest difference was in the East and the East Midlands where median mortgage payments were £19 per week higher than median private rents. Conversely, in Wales, the median private sector rent was £4 per week higher than the median mortgage payment and in London it was £35 per week higher.

See table 3.8 for full data.

Tenure type by age of head of household, FYE 2014 and FYE 2024, United Kingdom

Over the last decade, and for households with a head aged 16 to 34, the proportion of households renting privately has fallen.

The decade between 2013 to 2014 and 2023 to 2024 has seen a decrease in the proportion of households buying with a mortgage where the head of household is older; but an increase where the head of household is aged 16 to 34. In 2023 to 2024, and for households with a head aged 45-54, the percentage buying with a mortgage has fallen from 50% to 45% while for 55-64 year olds there has been a drop from 27% to 23%. For both of these age groups there has also been an increase in the percentage privately renting, compared to 10 years ago. Households with a head aged 16 to 24 were most likely to be in the private renting sector, in both years.

The social renting sector had the most even age-group distribution, with around 20% of households being in this sector irrespective of age, and in both years. The largest change between 2013 to 2014 and 2023 to 2024 was for households with a head aged 65 or over, with a fall from 19% to 15% of households.

In both survey years households owning their home outright were far more likely to have a head aged over 65 years (71% and 75% of this age group). For households with a head aged between 55 to 64, 48% owned their home outright in both years.

See table 3.7 for full data.

Households by tenure and receipt of income-related benefits, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

Twenty-three per cent of all households in the UK received some form of income-related benefit. However, among social sector renters, the proportion was three times higher at 69%. Thirty-four per cent of households in this sector were in receipt of Universal Credit. The proportion of them in receipt of non-income related benefits was 74%. Within this, 26% received PIP Daily Living, 26% received State Pension and 29% received Child Benefit.

For those households owning their home outright, 73% were in receipt of state support, with the 62% receiving State Pension reflecting the typically older age-group of the head of household for this tenure type.

Households that were either buying with a mortgage or privately renting were most likely to be in receipt of Child Benefit, compared to any other form of state support (28% and 24% were in receipt, respectively). This reflects the typically younger age group of the head of household for this tenure type.

See table 3.5 for full data.

5. Disability

Note that none of the FRS disability estimates are age-standardised (in contrast to some other sources, and the Census release).

Disability prevalence by age group, FYE 2014 to FYE 2024, United Kingdom

One in four people were classified as disabled.

The number of disabled people rose from 11.9 million (19%) in 2013 to 2014 to 16.8 million (25%) in the most recent survey year, an increase of 4.9 million people. This continues the trend since 2013 to 2014 of an increasing proportion of people in the UK being disabled.

There was an increase of five percentage points in the proportion of disabled children, from seven per cent in 2013 to 2014 to 12% in the most recent survey year. For working-age adults, the proportion of disabled people rose from 16% in 2013 to 2014 to 24% in 2023 to 2024, an increase of eight percentage points.

The proportion of disabled State Pension age adults has remained between 42% and 46% in every year of the past decade.

The term “disability” follows the core definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010, which states that a person is considered to have a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment that has ‘substantial’ and ‘long term’ negative effects on their ability to do normal daily activities. See the Background Information and Methodology information for more details.

See tables 4.1, 4.2a and 4.2b for full data.

Disability prevalence by gender, FYE 2014 to FYE 2024, United Kingdom

The proportion of both males and females with a disability has increased.

The percentage of females who were disabled increased from 20% (6.5 million) in 2013 to 2014 to 27% (9.3 million) in 2023 to 2024. Over the same period, the percentage of males who were disabled rose from 18% (5.4 million) to 22% (7.4 million), however the percentage of disabled males has remained at 22% since 2021 to 2022.

For those aged 14 years and younger, there was a higher proportion of disabled males than disabled females in 2023 to 2024. This is consistent with 2022 to 2023. More generally, there was a higher proportion of disabled females than disabled males in all other age groups.

See tables 4.2a, 4.2b and 4.3b for full data.

Disability prevalence by region and country, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

The percentage of disabled people varied by region and country.

Wales had the highest percentage of disabled people with 30%, five percentage points above the UK average.

London had the lowest percentage of disabled people with 17%, eight percentage points below the average for the UK. London and the South East were the only regions to fall below the rate for England as a whole.

The varying demographics in each region and country could partly explain the differences in the prevalence of disabled people. For example, disability prevalence may correlate with the percentage of the population who are State Pension age adults in a particular region or country, noting that the classification of people as disabled is nearly double amongst this age group in comparison to the overall population of the UK (45% compared to 25%).

See tables 4.1 and 4.4 for full data. 

Impairment types reported by disabled people, by age group, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

Impairment types reported by disabled people varied by age group.

For disabled children, the most common impairment type was social or behavioural impairments, with nearly three in five (59%) reporting this. This was followed by a learning impairment at 32%, then a mental health impairment, at 29%.

For disabled working-age adults, 48% reported a mental health impairment, the most prevalent impairment type among this age group. This was closely followed by a mobility impairment, at 42%. The third most likely impairment type was to do with stamina, breathing or fatigue, at 35%.

The most common impairment type reported among disabled State Pension age adults was a mobility impairment, with 69% reporting this. The second most likely impairment type was a stamina, breathing or fatigue impairment and the third was a dexterity impairment, at 45% and 34% respectively.

See table 4.6 for full data.

6. Care

The FRS questionnaire asks if people are caring for others on an informal basis (that is, where caring is not a paid job; this contrasts with formal care, which comes from paid help, such as the local authority, district nursing or private domestic help). Examples of care include helping with shopping, preparing meals, and feeding, and household chores.

Note that the Family Resources Survey is designed to be representative of all private households in the UK. Therefore, FRS results only aim to describe inferences about private households, and not the entire UK population. Some individuals, such as those in care homes, are not included.

Percentage of people providing informal care by age and gender, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

Those aged 55 to 64 years were most likely to be carers.

In 2023 to 2024, eight per cent of people in the UK were informal carers, as in 2022 to 2023. Females continue to be more likely to be informal carers (10%), compared to males (six per cent). In total, 3.3 million females and 2.1 million males were informal carers.

Across all age groups, except people aged 85 and over, females were more likely than males to be informal carers. People aged between 55 and 64 were most likely to be informal carers (15%). In this age group, 12% of men and 18% of women were informal carers.

See tables 5.1a, 5.1b and 5.2 for full data.

People cared for by informal carers and sandwich carers, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

Family members were the main recipients of informal care.

The main recipients of informal care were parents. Of all informal carers, 35% cared for parents living outside their household and seven per cent cared for parents living inside their household. Where caring was outside the household, parents were by far the most likely type of person to be cared for.

When providing informal care to those living inside their household, carers were most likely to care for a partner (spouse, civil partner or cohabitee) or their child (son or daughter), with 20% of informal carers caring for a partner, and 20% caring for their child.

Of all informal carers, 50% provided care to someone living inside their household and 54% provided care to someone living outside their household. Overall, 10% cared for more than one person, with four per cent caring both for somebody living inside their household and for somebody else living outside their household.

Eighteen per cent of informal carers were classified as ‘sandwich carers’. A sandwich carer refers to people aged 16 to 70 who:

• care for a child within their household or have a child dependent on them within their household; and

• care for an adult relative.

See tables 5.7a and 5.7b for full data.

Adult informal carers by employment status and gender, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

Nearly half of adult male informal carers were in full-time employment.

Of all adult informal carers, 51% were in employment with 35% working full-time. Male carers were more likely than female carers to be working full-time. The proportion of male carers that were working full-time was 45% in comparison with 29% for females. In contrast, female carers were more likely to work part-time (21% of women compared with nine per cent of men).

Of adult informal carers, 22% were retired and 25% were economically inactive. The economically inactive include those who are students, those looking after a family or home, those permanently or temporarily sick or disabled and those inactive due to other reasons. Those unemployed (that is, seeking work) formed a very small minority of all adult informal carers, at two per cent.

See table 5.4 for full data.

Adult informal carers by gender and hours caring, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

Half of adult informal carers provided care for up to 19 hours per week.

Of all adult informal carers, over half (52%) provided care for up to 19 hours per week with 23% providing care for less than 5 hours per week, and 29% providing care for between 5 and 19 hours per week. Around a third of adult informal carers provided care for at least 35 or more hours of care per week: 12% were providing care for between 35 and 49 hours per week, 15% providing care for 50 or more hours per week, and 9% providing care for a varying number of hours per week but 35 at minimum.

See table 5.3 for full data.

Percentage of people receiving care at least once a week, by age and gender, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

The likelihood of receiving care varied by age and gender.

The proportion of people receiving care at least once a week has been stable in recent years, at around five per cent. The likelihood of receiving care at least once a week increased with age beyond the 35 to 44 group, with 27% of people aged 85 and over receiving care every week.

For people aged 75 and upwards, females were more likely than males to receive care at least once a week. This was most noticeable for the age group 85 and over as 31% of women and 21% of males received care at least once a week. In contrast, males were more likely to receive care at least once a week than females at ages 15 and below.

See table 5.8 for full data.

Recipients of care at least once a week by frequency of care, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

Forty-two per cent of those receiving care at least once a week received continuous help.

Of those receiving any form of care at least once a week (paid or informal), 42% received continuous care. Of the remainder, it was more common to receive care every day than to receive care on another, less frequent basis. Of those receiving care at least once a week,14% received care several times a week and 7% received care once a week.

There was a strong relationship between the frequency of care received and the age of the recipient. Of those receiving care at least once a week, children up to the age of 15 were more likely to receive continuous care than any other age group, with 67% receiving care continuously. Adults aged 45 to 54 were the least likely to receive continuous care at least once a week, with 31% receiving care continuously, but were the most likely to receive care several times a day (35%).

Note that the Family Resources Survey is designed to be representative of all private households in the UK. Therefore, FRS results only aim to describe inferences about private households, and not the entire UK population. Some individuals, such as those in care homes, are not included.

See table 5.9 for full data.

7. Pension Participation

Pension scheme participation of working-age adults by employment status, FYE 2014 to FYE 2024, United Kingdom

Pension scheme participation increased substantially following the introduction of automatic enrolment for employees (introduced in 2012 and completed in April 2019).

Over the past decade, pension scheme participation of all those of working-age has increased year on year, with the exception of 2021 to 2022. Participation has increased by 18 percentage points, from 37% in 2013 to 2014, to 55% in 2023 to 2024.

Scheme participation among employees has grown every survey year except for the financial year ending 2022 and the financial year ending 2023. This has increased by 26 percentage points from the financial year ending 2014 to the financial year ending 2024 (that is, from 53% to 79%).

This increase has followed the introduction of automatic enrolment. This was introduced in 2012 with the full, nationwide rollout completed in April 2019.

The eligibility criteria for automatic enrolment are as follows for an employee:

• aged between 22 and State Pension age
• earn at least £10,000 per year
• work in the UK under a contract of employment or a work arrangement

These eligibility criteria for automatic enrolment influence the observed differences in pension scheme participation rates by age group.

Those who are self-employed are not eligible for automatic enrolment. Over the past decade, for those who are self-employed, pension scheme participation has remained fairly stable at between 16% and 20%.

See table 6.5 for full data.

Pension scheme participation for working-age adults by pension type and gender, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

Pension scheme participation rates were slightly lower for women than men.

The overall pension scheme participation rate was slightly lower for working-age females than for working-age males in the survey year 2023 to 2024. Fifty-six per cent of working-age men were contributing to any type of pension compared to 54% of working-age women.

For employer-sponsored pensions, the proportions contributing were nearly the same for working-age males as females. The same was true of individual pensions (personal pensions, including stakeholder pensions), where scheme participation rates were one percentage point higher for working-age males than for working-age females (6% and 5% respectively). Some working-age adults participated in both types of pension scheme.

See table 6.1 for full data.

Pension scheme participation of adults by age and economic status, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

The percentage of adults participating in a pension scheme varied by age and economic status.

Pension scheme participation rates were highest amongst adults aged 25 to 54 (up  to 65%). Conversely, scheme participation amongst adults aged 16 to 24 was 27%.

For employees, rates of pension scheme participation were highest amongst those aged 35 to 59 (ranging from 84% to 86%).

For the self-employed, rates of pension scheme participation were highest amongst those aged 45 to 59, at 25%.

See table 6.2 for full data.

8. Savings and Investment

Levels of savings for families in 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

In 2023 to 2024:

• the proportion of families (benefit units) with no savings was 20%
• a further 10% had less than £100 in savings
• a further 18% had between £100 and £1,500 in savings

Lone parents were the most likely to be in the first two categories: 34% had no savings, a further 25% had less than £100.  A further 23% of lone parents had between £100 and £1,500. Twenty-nine per cent of cohabiting couples with children had between £100 and £1,500, making this type of family the most likely to have savings in this range.

Among single adults without children, 32% of males and 29% of females reported having no savings.

Pensioner couples had higher levels of savings and investments than other families. Forty-seven per cent of pensioner couples had savings and investments of £30,000 or more, compared to the UK average of 19%.

See tables 7.10a and 7.10b for full data.

Bank accounts and ISAs

Ninety-two per cent of UK households reported having a current account.

A large majority of adults reported having a current account: In most age groups, between 88% and 92% of adults reported having a current account. The exceptions were for the youngest and oldest age groups. For 16 to 24 year olds, 81% reported having a current account and for those aged 85 and over, 85% reported having a current account.

Among families, single males without children were most likely to report having no accounts. Fourteen per cent of this group reported having no accounts compared with nine per cent of UK families.

Lone parents (11%) were least likely to have an Individual Savings Account (ISA). In contrast, pensioner couples were most likely to hold an ISA.

See tables 7.1, 7.5 and 7.7 for full data.

Holdings of stocks and shares, and premium bonds

A minority of adults said that they held stocks and shares (nine per cent).

For those aged between 25 and 34, six per cent held stocks and shares. This rose to 15% for those aged 75 to 84. Men (11%) were also more likely to invest in this way than women (seven per cent).

Around one in eight adults said they held Premium Bonds (13%). As with other assets, the percentage holding them consistently increased with age, with the exception of those in the 85 and over age group. For those aged 25 to 34, six per cent of adults said that they held Premium Bonds. This rose to 24% for those aged 65 to 74 and was 26% among those aged 75 to 84.

See table 7.7 for full data.

9. Self Employment

Median net earnings of working-age employees and the self-employed, by part-time and full-time, FYE 2014 to FYE 2024, United Kingdom (2023 to 2024 prices)

Median self-employed earnings have grown; for full-timers, the gap to employees was at its smallest in a decade.

Among those of working age, self-employed earnings continued to grow in 2023 to 2024, as they have every year since 2020 to 2021. Median net annual earnings for the full-time self-employed increased by £1,800 (eight per cent) between 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024.  This contrasts with median net earnings for full-time employees, which were £700 lower than in 2022 to 2023.

However, the full-time employee median (£26,500) was still higher than the full-time self-employed median (£23,300). This has been the case over the previous decade.

For those working part-time, median net earnings for employees were 33% higher than those of the part-time self-employed, where the median annual figure was £8,900.

All earnings figures are adjusted to 2023 to 2024 prices.

See table 8.2a for full data.

Median net earnings of the self-employed, by gender and by part-time and full-time, FYE 2014 to FYE 2024, United Kingdom (2023 to 2024 prices)

Among the self-employed, while median net earnings for men have grown, those of women have fallen back.

Among self-employed men, median net earnings increased this year for both full-time and part-time workers. For men who worked full-time, the annual median was £1,600 higher than in 2022 to 2023, at £23,800; whilst for part-timers, the annual increase was £1,000, to £8,600.

In contrast, among self-employed women, median net earnings were lower than in 2022 to 2023 for both full-time and part-time workers. For women who worked full-time, the annual median was £400 lower than in 2022 to 2023, at £14,800; whilst for part-timers, the annual decrease was £300, to £7,900.

All earnings figures are adjusted to 2023 to 2024 prices.

See table 8.5 for full data.

Self employment by age group, FYE 2014 to FYE 2024, United Kingdom

The estimated number of people who were self-employed in their main job was 3.9 million in 2023 to 2024. This was a decrease from the 4.1 million estimated in 2022 to 2023, and also below the numbers reported in 2019 to 2020, which were 4.3 million.

The division of the 3.9 million total, into working-age people compared with those of State Pension age, was almost unchanged since 2022 to 2023.

See table 8.4b for full data.

Percentage of self-employed working full-time and part-time by gender, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

Self-employed men were more likely to work full-time than self-employed women.

Of all self-employed men, 4 out of 5 were working full-time (80%). For self-employed women the proportions who were working full-time and part-time were almost evenly split.

See table 8.1 for full data.

10. Household Food Security

Introduction

The household food security question block was added to the FRS in the 2019 to 2020 survey year. These questions measure whether households have sufficient food to facilitate an active and healthy lifestyle.

In the survey year 2021 to 2022, the FRS asked further questions on food bank usage.

Food banks can be visited by those who have difficulty purchasing food to avoid hunger. A referral is usually required before using most food banks. These referrals could be from Citizens Advice, a GP, housing association or social worker. Food banks can provide other support, such as financial advice or mental health support, but the FRS records “usage” as visits to a food bank for the purpose of getting emergency food supplies only. The FRS does not collect data on the number of visits that respondents make; for households that report using a food bank, the FRS records that a food bank has been used at least once, but further information on the number of visits cannot be inferred.

Questions about household food security and food bank usage are asked of the person in the household who knows the most about buying and preparing food. These survey estimates therefore relate to the household as a whole; not to individuals within the household, nor single benefit units within multi-family households.

In common with the rest of the FRS, the household food security block of questions asks about the time period immediately before the interview (30 days). For household food bank usage, questions ask about two separate time periods:

• usage within the 12 months before the interview
• usage within the 30 days before the interview, as with household food security

Only households that report using a food bank in the last 12 months are then asked about 30-day usage.

Caution is needed when comparing household food security status with 12-month food bank usage. The effect of household food security upon food bank usage, cannot be fully deduced because the former only asks about the household’s circumstances in the last 30 days.

There is no standard form of question for either household food security or food bank usage. The questions used by the FRS are similar to those used by other public bodies in the UK, and also internationally, but there are some differences. Further information on the approach and alternative sources is available in the Background Information and Methodology. 

These statistics should be treated with caution when interpreting them:

• where a household is food insecure, information about the individual experiences of food insecurity within the household is not available. A young child’s experiences in a food-insecure household may be very different from their parents’ experiences, for example
• household food security statistics do not directly measure hunger. They instead explore the financial situation of households and how that affects their access to food
• caution should be taken with both measures of household food bank usage captured in the FRS, when comparing with other sources, as these may use different time periods

Household food security status of all households, FYE 2020 to FYE 2024, United Kingdom

The proportion of food secure households remained the same between 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024

The proportion of food secure households decreased from 92% in 2019 to 2020, to 90% in 2023 to 2024, a decrease of two percentage points. The proportion of food secure households remained the same between 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024.

The majority of households were food secure, with high household food security (83%) or marginal household food security (6%). Food insecure households were in the minority, with low household food security (5%) or very low household food security (5%).

Geographically, there were differences in household food security. Households in Northern Ireland were the most food secure (87% high, 5% marginal). Households in Wales and Scotland were the least food secure (both having 5% low and 6% very low).

Between the regions in England, there was greater variation in food security:

• households in Inner London (83%) were the least likely to be food secure
• households in the South West (93%) were the most likely to be food secure

See tables 9.1 and 9.2 for full data.

Household food bank usage, FYE 2023 to FYE 2024, United Kingdom

The percentage of households which used a food bank within the past 30 days increased slightly, from 1.4% in 2022 to 2023 to 1.5% in 2023 to 2024. Food bank usage within the past 12 months increased from 3.3% of households in 2022 to 2023 to 3.6% in 2023 to 2024.

The proportion of households that used a food bank within the last 30 days increased by 0.1 percentage points, from 1.4% in 2022 to 2023 to 1.5% in 2023 to 2024. The proportion of households that used a food bank within the last 12 months increased by 0.3 percentage points, from 3.3% in 2022 to 2023 to 3.6% in 2023 to 2024.

See table 9.12 for full data.

Household food bank usage, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

Household food bank usage varies with location.

Geographically, there were differences in household food bank usage. Households in Scotland were most likely to have used a food bank overall (2% within the last 30 days; 5% within the last 12 months). Households in England were less likely to have used a food bank (1% within the last 30 days; 3% within the last 12 months).

Within England:

• households in the East, East Midlands, South East and South West were equally the least likely to have used a food bank (1% within the last 30 days; 3% within the last 12 months)
• whereas rates in northern regions were higher
• and households in Inner London were the most likely to have used a food bank (3% within the last 30 days, 5% within the last 12 months)

There were also differences in household food bank usage by the Rural Urban Classification of the household’s locality (noting that classifications differ between Scotland, Northern Ireland and England and Wales):

• in England and Wales, households in Urban areas were more likely to have used a food bank when compared with Rural areas. Within Urban areas, households in Urban Conurbations were the most likely to have used a food bank (2% within the last 30 days; 4% within the last 12 months)
• in Scotland, households in Small Towns were most likely to have used a food bank (2% within the last 30 days; 7% within the last 12 months) when compared with Urban and Rural areas
• in Northern Ireland, households in Other Urban areas were most likely to have used a food bank (2% within the last 30 days; 6% within the last 12 months) when compared with Belfast City and Rural areas

See tables 9.14 and 9.23 for full data.

Household food bank usage by household food security status, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

Households with low or very low food security were more likely to have used food banks, both in 12-month and 30-day terms.

Household food bank usage was more likely where the household was less food secure:

• for high food security households, a negligible proportion had used a food bank within the last 30 days, and 1% within the last 12 months
• for very low food security households, 16% used a food bank within the last 30 days, and 30% within the last 12 months

See table 9.13 for full data.

Household food security status and food bank usage by total gross weekly income, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

As income increases, households were more likely to be food secure.

Higher-income households were also less likely to have used a food bank.

Households with gross weekly incomes of less than £200 per week were the least likely to be food secure (70% high; 9% marginal), and the most likely to have used a food bank (6% within the last 30 days; 9% within the last 12 months).

Households with gross weekly incomes of £1,000 or more per week were the most likely to be food secure (93% high; 4% marginal), and the least likely to have used a food bank (negligible proportion within the last 30 days; 1% within the last 12 months).

See tables 9.9 and 9.21 for full data.

Household food security status and food bank usage by state support receipt, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

Where households were in receipt of income-related benefits, they were less likely to be food secure.

Households on any income-related benefit were less likely to be food secure (13% low; 17% very low) compared with all households (5% low; 5% very low). Similarly, food bank usage was more likely for those on any income-related benefit (5% within the last 30 days; 13% within the last 12 months), compared with all households (2% within the last 30 days; 4% within the last 12 months).

Of households in receipt of state support more widely:

• households receiving Income Support were the least likely to be food secure, at 57%, whilst also being the most likely to use a food bank (11% within the last 30 days; 21% within the last 12 months)

• sixty per cent of households which recieved Universal Credit were food secure (46% high; 14% marginal). Eight per cent of households which recieved Universal Credit had used a food bank within the last 30 days and 19% within the last 12 months

See tables 9.8 and 9.20 for full data.

Household food security status and food bank usage by age group of head, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

Households with a younger head were the most likely to be food insecure.

Food bank use was also more prevalent in households with a younger head of household.

Households where the head was aged between 25 and 59 all had similar levels of food security. The proportion of food-secure households was notably greater where the head was aged 65 and above. With household food bank usage, households where the head was aged 25 to 64 all had similar levels of usage.

See tables 9.4 and 9.16 for full data.

Household food security status and food bank usage by tenure and age group, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

Households in the social renting sector were least likely to be food secure and most likely to have used a food bank.

Food bank usage varied by tenure; households in the social renting sector were more likely to have used a food bank (6% within the last 30 days; 14% within the last 12 months) than private renters (2% within the last 30 days; 5% within the last 12 months) or owner-occupied households (negligible proportions within the last 30 days; 1% within the last 12 months).

See tables 9.10 and 9.22 for full data.

Household food security status and food bank usage by household composition, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

Households with children were less likely to be food secure and more likely to have used a food bank than households without children.

Households with children were more likely to be food insecure (8% low; 8% very low) compared with households without children (4% low; 4% very low). Similarly, food bank usage was more likely for households with children (2% within the last 30 days; 6% within the last 12 months), compared with households without children (1% within the last 30 days; 3% within the last 12 months).

Households with one or more disabled adults were less likely to be food secure and more likely to have used a food bank.

Households with one or more disabled adults were more likely to be food insecure (7% low, 9% very low) compared with households with no disabled adults (4% low; 3% very low). Similarly, households with one or more disabled adults were more likely to have used a food bank (3% within the last 30 days; 6% within the last 12 months), compared with households without disabled adults (1% within the last 30 days; 2% within 12 last months).

See tables 9.3, 9.5, 9.15 and 9.17 for full data.

Household food security status and food bank usage by educational attainment of head, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

Households where the head had a lower educational attainment were less likely to be food secure.

The likelihood of a household having high food security generally increased with the level of educational attainment, except for households with a level 1 or level 2 qualification which showed similar food security levels.

• households where the educational attainment of the head was Entry Level (such as Entry Level Awards and Entry Level Functional Skills) were the least likely to be food secure (65% high; 9% marginal)
• households where the head had a qualification of Level 4 or higher (higher education qualifications, such as degrees) were the most likely to be food secure (89% high; 5% marginal)

For information on how education levels are harmonised between Scotland and other parts of the UK, see the qualifications harmonised standard.

See tables 9.6 for household food security data and 9.18 for food bank data.

11. Childcare

The FRS has asked questions on childcare for several years. The questions are put to people with children under 16 and focus on the seven days prior to the interview. The FRS collects information on childcare for each child separately; and then on which kind of provider is used for that child. This is because one child can use several different types of childcare.

• Childcare is defined as care provided for a child aged up to 16 years old, and where they are of school age, outside of core educational hours (school lessons).
• The statistics in this chapter refer to both “formal” and “informal” childcare. Formal childcare includes playgroups, nurseries, breakfast clubs and after-school clubs, childminders, nannies and au pairs, while informal childcare relates to relatives and friends who look after the child or children.
• As set out elsewhere in this publication, the term “benefit unit” refers to a family grouping that would be used to assess benefit entitlement. It should be noted that “benefit unit” is used throughout the FRS report as a description of groups of individuals regardless of whether they are in receipt of state support or not. It is defined as ‘a single adult or couple living as married or cohabiting and any dependent children.’ As elsewhere in this report, the terms “family” and “benefit unit” are used interchangeably.

Further details on the definitions and categories of childcare used in the FRS questionnaire are available in the Background Information and Methodology. Customised statistics and direct comparisons to data from previous years can be made using Stat-Xplore.

Families with children and using childcare by type of childcare provider used, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

The proportion of families with children who used formal childcare only was higher than those using informal childcare only.

Of all families with children, 50% reported using a form of childcare. These families were then asked about their use of formal and informal childcare. Formal childcare was more prevalent; 46% of them used formal childcare only, compared with 22% who used informal childcare only. Thirty-two per cent of families with children who used childcare were using both formal and informal childcare.

See table 10.1 for full data.

Families with children and using childcare by region and type of childcare provider used, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

Among families using childcare, there were regional differences in the type used.

Nationally, childcare use varied by region. Families in Scotland and Northern Ireland reported lower use of formal childcare (67% and 70% respectively) than families in England and Wales (79% and 75% respectively). Conversely, informal childcare use was lower in England (52%) when compared with elsewhere.

Within England, childcare-using families in London, the East and the West Midlands all made greater use of formal childcare than other regions. Conversely, childcare-using families in the East Midlands and North East were more likely to use informal childcare.

See table 10.6 for full data.

Children for whom childcare is used, by child’s age and type of childcare, 2023 to 2024, United Kingdom

Among children using childcare, the mix of childcare type varied by age group.

Among children for whom childcare was used:

• of children aged 3 to 5 years old, and not attending school, 93% used some kind of formal childcare, with 38% using informal childcare
• this contrasts with children in the youngest and oldest age groups, which show a relatively smaller difference between formal and informal provider types
• for children of school age, and where formal childcare was used, after-school clubs were the most-used type (used by 44% of 4 to 11-year-olds and 38% of 12 to 16-year-olds)
• in contrast, for pre-school children, daycare was by far the most-used type of formal childcare

See table 10.3 for full data.

12. About these statistics

These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) in 2011, who then confirmed them as National Statistics in November 2012. National Statistics are accredited official statistics. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should now be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.

It is DWP’s responsibility to maintain compliance with the standards expected of accredited official statistics. If DWP becomes concerned about whether these statistics are still meeting the appropriate standards, we will discuss any concerns with the OSR. Accredited official statistics status can be removed at any point when the highest standards are not maintained, and reinstated when standards are restored. Read further information about accredited official statistics.

Other official and accredited official statistics

Read about other DWP statistics. DWP announce the release dates of official and accredited official statistics, in accordance with the Code.

Status development

Since this latest review by the OSR, we have continued to comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics, and have made a number of improvements which are described in the Background Information and Methodology section. For the 2023 to 2024 survey year we have also made these improvements:

• a review of material deprivation measures and the associated questions to keep these measures as relevant as possible
• the use of administrative data to improve the precision of Warm Home Discount income
• new questions added on these topics: Care leavers; veterans (former service, both regular and reserve, in the UK Armed Forces); length of self employment; and on food security, whether anyone outside the family is giving food to them
• a review of the imputation methodology for the Scottish Child Payment (SCP)
• an addition of a Scottish Winter Heating Payment flag and benefit amounts
• some Cost of Living payments were made to households in 2023 to 2024. As in 2022 to 2023, these continue to form part of total household incomes within the FRS dataset
• a correction to the EDUCQUAL variable has been applied for 2023 to 2024. As such, tables 9.6 and 9.18 have been published to show household food security and food bank usage by educational attainment of head of household

In addition, FRS statistics continue to be available via the Stat-Xplore online tool. Stat-Xplore can be used to create bespoke tables and statistics, across a very wide range of FRS variables. Several years of data, going back to the 2002 to 2003 survey year, have been released; this year’s data has now been added.

13. Using the FRS for analysis

The Family Resources Survey is designed to be representative of all private households in the UK. Some individuals are not included, for example, students in halls of residence or residents of nursing homes.

There remain areas where users are advised to exercise caution: When using data from the 2021 to 2022 and 2020 to 2021 survey years, and especially when comparing these years to other survey years. More details on how the results for the 2021 to 2022 and 2020 to 2021 survey years were affected by the pandemic, can be found in the FRS 2021 to 2022 Background Information and Methodology document.

Sample design and size

The Family Resources Survey uses a stratified, clustered, random sample. This is designed to produce robust regional estimates. The data is not suitable for analysis below regional level.

The FRS achieved sample in the 2023 to 2024 survey year was just under 17,000 households rather than the 20,000 originally intended. Although gaining household response was challenging, the primary challenge was from recruitment and retention of sufficient interviewers.

This 17,000 is lower than that achieved in 2022 to 2023 (just over 25,000). However, it should be noted that the issued sample this year was significantly smaller than it was in 2022 to 2023 (59,000, versus 99,000 households, as 2022 to 2023 had a sample boost). It follows that the response rate is higher this year than in 2022 to 2023.

Sampling error

Results from surveys are estimates and not precise figures. In general terms, the smaller the sample size, the greater the uncertainty of the estimates. Results in this report are subject to a margin of error which can affect how changes should be interpreted, especially between groups and in the short term.

Non-sampling error

Non-sampling errors are systematic inaccuracies in the sample when compared with the population. For example, people may give inaccurate responses, or certain groups of people may be less likely to respond.

Non-sampling error is minimised in the Family Resources Survey through effective and accurate sample and questionnaire design, active fieldwork management, the use of skilled and experienced interviewers and extensive quality assurance of the data.

However, it is not possible to eliminate non-sampling error completely, nor can it be easily quantified. Relative to administrative records, the Family Resources Survey is known materially to under-report benefit receipt for several state benefits.

Where to find out more

Further outputs and tables, together with:

• a detailed background information and methodology document including a description of methodology, definitions, general guidance and alternative data sources, as well as further detail on the reliability of estimates
• a quality assessment report containing information on the Family Resources Survey data sources used by the Department for Work and Pensions, as well as quality assessments on each of them
• a release strategy document detailing future developments to do with the FRS can be accessed from the Family Resources Survey home page

Other relevant material includes:

• A guide to the different definitions of earnings and income, with information on alternative sources of data, is available
• A guide to contrasting income and earnings statistics to help identify the most appropriate statistic, describing the source data, output data and availability, the concept being measured, its main strengths, limitations and uses

If you would like more information on these statistics, then please visit the income and earnings interactive tool where you can filter by government department and country of interest to find relevant statistics.

Lead Statistician: M A Vaughan

ISBN: 978-1-78659-790-8