Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year 2009/10
Estimates of take-up of income-related benefits for Great Britain for the financial year 2009/10.
Documents
Details
Introduction
The National Statistics First Release contains a digest of important results taken from the publication Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up 2009 to 2010 published 23 February 2012.
Latest estimates of take-up of income-related benefits cover Great Britain for the financial year 2009 to 2010. The report provides caseload and expenditure estimates of take-up and includes estimates of the total and average amounts of benefit claimed and unclaimed for:
- Income Support and Employment and Support Allowance (income-related)
- Pension Credit
- Housing Benefit (including Local Housing Allowance)
- Council Tax Benefit
- Jobseeker’s Allowance (Income-Based)
The publication explores some of the reasons for non-take-up and includes the position of those entitled to but not receiving benefits in the household income distribution – as defined by the Households Below Average Income series. The final section of each benefit chapter focuses on caseload take-up over time.
The main data sources used to produce estimates of take-up are the Family Resources Survey, used to model the population in private households entitled to income-related benefits; and the DWP and local authority benefit records data – the basis of the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study and the DWP Statistical Summaries – providing the counts of benefit recipients and typical amounts received.
Full details of the methods, data sources and a worked example of how take-up statistics are derived are available in Chapter 8: Methods and Data Sources and the Appendix: Construction of take-up ranges
Changes to the modelling that underpins income-related benefits: estimates of take-up
The approach to modelling income-related benefit entitlement for Family Resources Survey respondents has been improved for the 2009 to 2010 publication. Figures have been revised for 2007 to 2008 and 2008 to 2009 using this new approach. It’s these revised statistics that are used in the 2009 to 2010 publication and should take precedence over previously published results. Details of the improvement can be found in the technical note below and Chapter 7: Revisions in the latest report.
This technical note was first published in October 2011. The documents below contain updated figures following improvements made to the methodology.
UK Statistics Authority assessment
In the latter half of 2011, as part of its statutory power to assess sets of statistics against the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, the UK Statistics Authority conducted a review of several associated statistical products produced by DWP, which included ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up’.
The report concluded that the statistical products assessed, including ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up’, were readily accessible, produced according to sound methods and managed impartially and objectively in the public interest. As such they could continue to be designated as National Statistics, subject to the implementation of four requirements raised in the report. Work to meet these requirements is being taken forward to meet UK Statistics Authority deadlines.
The assessment report was published in December 2011.
Full UK Statistics Authority report
Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up technical annex
A suggestion arising from the UK Statistics Authority assessment of the ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up’ report focussed on the improvement of information available about the methods used in the compilation of the statistics. Full details of the methods, data sources and a worked example of how take-up statistics are derived are available in Chapter 8: methods and data Sources and the Appendix: construction of take-up ranges
To support the information in the publication is a technical annex providing detail of the variables and formulas used in the derivation of the take-up estimates. This document is recommended for specialist users wanting in-depth details of the methodology and should be used in conjunction with the methodology chapter in the publication.
Last updated 18 June 2013 + show all updates
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