Guidance

Family Resources Survey Stat-Xplore database guide

Updated 24 May 2024

The Family Resources Survey (FRS) Stat-Xplore database provides information on individual and household incomes as well as characteristics and circumstances for a financial year.

Information is available for the United Kingdom from the financial year 2002 to 2003 up to and including the latest published FRS data at the following reporting levels:

• child

• adult

• individual

• family (benefit unit)

• household

• household food security and food bank usage

Data is taken directly from the FRS, which is a continuous household survey collecting information on a representative sample of private households in the United Kingdom.

For further information, please refer to the Background Information and Methodology document published alongside each FRS publication report.

Information is available at a regional, country and UK level and also by ethnicity. While Stat-Xplore displays results for single years, please ensure that FRS estimates for ethnicity estimates are calculated using three-year averages – see section ‘8. Known Issues’ for guidance on how to correctly calculate estimates.

Please note that particular care is needed in calculating three-year averages for percentages.

Please email team.frs@dwp.gov.uk with comments and suggestions.

Please add “Source: FRS Stat-Xplore” to any analysis shared or published.

1. What is Stat-Xplore?

Stat-Xplore is a free tabulation tool. Users can access Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) data via databases to create their own analysis.

FRS estimates and underlying data is also available via:

• the FRS homepage – a main report, along with an extensive suite of tables of FRS estimates and the FRS background information and methodology detailing information related to the quality of FRS statistics
• the UK Data Service – end user licence access to the FRS datasets and extensive user documentation (note that income variables are rounded to nearest whole £1 and very large households and some variables are removed unless using safe room access)
• the Office for National Statistics Secure Research Service (as the future Integrated Data Service) – FRS data is accessible via their site

2. Benefits of Using the FRS Stat-Xplore database

Some benefits of Stat-Xplore are:

• free and accessible to all with user guidance and virtual tour

• new user-defined analysis of FRS data with a user-friendly Application Programming Interface (API) and quick export of tables/graphs to Excel/PDF

• data is unrounded so users can produce more accurate analysis (final estimates must be rounded as described below)

3. Constraints of using the FRS Stat-Xplore database

Some constraints of using Stat-Xplore are:

• confidence intervals around estimates and design factors cannot be produced in Stat-Xplore

• analysis based on three-year averages is not currently possible so FRS estimates based on ethnicity variables must be calculated manually by the user. See section ’8. Known Issues’ for details

• careful selection of row and column categories are necessary to ensure correct estimates are produced - please see ‘12. User-defined Analysis’ and ‘13. Further Top Tips’

4. FRS Definitions

FRS defines some groups and characteristics in a specific way, which may differ from definitions used in other sources.

The following table provides specific definitions relevant to the FRS.

Table 4: FRS Definitions

Definition	Explanation
Adult	All individuals who are aged 16 and over are classified as an adult, unless the individual is defined as a dependent child. All adults in the household are interviewed as part of the FRS.
Child	A dependent child is defined as an individual aged under 16. A person will also be defined as a child if they are 16 to 19 years old and they are: * not married nor in a civil partnership nor living with a partner; and * living with parents (or a responsible adult); and * in full-time non-advanced education or in unwaged government training
Disability	The definition of disability used in this publication is consistent with the core definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010. A person is considered to have a disability if they “have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on their ability to do normal daily activities”. Whereby ‘substantial’ means more than minor or trivial, and ‘long-term’ means 12 months or more. However, some individuals classified as disabled and having rights under the Equality Act 2010 are not captured by this definition: * people with a long-standing illness or disability who would experience substantial difficulties without medication or treatment * people who have been diagnosed with cancer, HIV infection or multiple sclerosis but who are not currently experiencing difficulties with their day-to-day activities * people with progressive conditions, where the effect of the impairment does not yet impede their live * people who were disabled in the past but are no longer limited in their daily lives are still covered by the Equality Act 2010.
Family (Benefit Unit)	A benefit unit may consist of: a single adult, or a married or cohabiting couple, plus any dependent children. Same-sex partners (civil partners and cohabitees) have been included in the same benefit unit since January 2006. Where a total for a benefit unit is presented (such as total benefit unit income received from State Support) this includes income from adults plus any income from children.
Household	A household consists of 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 or sitting room or dining area. A household will consist of one or more benefit units. Where a total value for a household is presented, such as total household income, this includes income from adults plus any income from children.
Individual	An adult or child. Where ‘people’ or ‘individuals’ are presented, this is all adults and children.
Informal Carers	Individuals who provide any regular service or help to someone. That person can be inside or outside of their household, and might be sick, disabled or elderly; this description excludes those who give this service or help as part of a formal job.
In latest prices	Indicates variants of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) are used to adjust income for inflation to the ‘latest’ publication year prices to be able to compare how incomes are changing over time in real terms.
In year prices	Income has not been adjusted for inflation so are in ‘nominal’ terms.
Net	After deductions have been removed for: income tax payments and National Insurance contributions; domestic rates/council tax; contributions to occupational pension schemes; all maintenance payments; student loan repayments; parental contributions to students living away from home.

Further information can be found in the FRS Background Information and Methodology, available from the main FRS publication page or by clicking on the “i” icon for a variable in the FRS Stat-Xplore database.

5. FRS Estimates Rounding Rules and Disclosure

Please note that estimates derived in this database are unrounded and based on survey data.

Once the user has produced FRS estimates using unrounded outputs:

• percentages must be rounded to the nearest whole per cent

• numbers must be rounded to the nearest 0.1 million (or 100,000 individuals)

• amounts must be rounded to the nearest £1 (weekly) and £100 (annual)

These rounding conventions have been set to reflect that FRS estimates are based on the Family Resources Survey (FRS) and not actual records of individuals in the UK.

Where tabulations result in a number of rows or columns with zero numbers or percentages when rounded, we recommend combining groups.

When comparing year-on-year changes, users are advised to refer to the suite of tables providing confidence intervals around the key FRS estimates (Methodology and standard error data tables) on the FRS homepage. There is some uncertainty around estimates derived from the FRS because:

• not every household in the country is interviewed as part of the survey
• there is a possibility that households that are interviewed contain a greater fraction of households below the poverty line than the general population

For further information, including a number of methods which can be applied to estimate uncertainty within the FRS estimates, please refer to this FRS Uncertainty guidance.

6. Breakdowns Available

FRS Stat-Xplore allows users to create their own analysis of these breakdowns.

1. Weighted Sum of Child/Adult/Individual/Family (Benefit Unit)/Household/Household Food Security Dataset (default measure) (Sum)

2. Adult Income from All Sources

• Adult total, net Income received from all sources in latest prices (weekly, CPI adjusted real terms) (Median and Mean)
• Adult total, net Income received from all sources in year prices (weekly, in nominal terms) (Median and Mean)
• Adult total, annual, net Income received from all sources in latest prices (CPI adjusted real terms) (Median and Mean)
• Adult total, annual, net Income received from all sources in year prices (in nominal terms) (Median and Mean)

3. Adult Income from Employment and Self-employment

• Adult total, annual, net Income received from Employment in latest prices (CPI adjusted real terms) (Median and Mean)
• Adult total, annual, net Income received from Employment in year prices (in nominal terms) (Median and Mean)
• Adult total, annual, net Income received from Self Employment in latest prices (CPI adjusted real terms) (Median and Mean)
• Adult total, annual, net Income received from Self Employment in year prices (in nominal terms) (Median and Mean)

4. Household Income from All Sources

• Household total, gross Income from all sources in latest prices (weekly, CPI adjusted real terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household total, gross Income from all sources in year prices (weekly, in nominal terms) (Median and Mean)

5. Household Income from Employment and Self-employment

• Household total, gross Income from Employment and Self Employment in latest prices (weekly, CPI adjusted real terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household total, gross Income from Employment and Self Employment in year prices (weekly, in nominal terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household total, gross Income from Employment in latest prices (weekly, CPI adjusted real terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household total, gross Income from Employment in year prices (weekly, in nominal terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household total, gross Income from Self-Employment in latest prices (weekly, CPI adjusted real terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household total, gross Income from Self-Employment in year prices (weekly, in nominal terms) (Median and Mean)

6. Household Income from Other Sources

• Household total, gross Income from Investments and other sources in latest prices (weekly, CPI adjusted real terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household total, gross Income from Investments and other sources in year prices (weekly, in nominal terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household total, gross Income from Investments in latest prices (weekly, CPI adjusted real terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household total, gross Income from Investments in year prices (weekly, in nominal terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household total, gross Income from non-state pensions in latest prices (weekly, CPI adjusted real terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household total, gross Income from non-state pensions in year prices (weekly, in nominal terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household total, gross Income from other sources in latest prices (weekly, CPI adjusted real terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household total, gross Income from other sources in year prices (weekly, in nominal terms) (Median and Mean)

7. Household Income from State Support

• Household Income from Disability Benefits in latest prices (weekly, CPI adjusted real terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household Income from Disability Benefits in year prices (weekly, in nominal terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household Income from other benefits in latest prices (weekly, CPI adjusted real terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household Income from other benefits in year prices (weekly, in nominal terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household Income from State Pension, Income Support and Pension Credit in latest prices (weekly, CPI adjusted real terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household Income from State Pension, Income Support and Pension Credit in year prices (weekly, in nominal terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household Income from State Support in latest prices (weekly, CPI adjusted real terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household Income from State Support in year prices (weekly, in nominal terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household Income from Tax Credits in latest prices (weekly, CPI adjusted real terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household Income from Tax Credits in year prices (weekly, in nominal terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household Income from Universal Credit in latest prices (weekly, CPI-adjusted real terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household Income from Universal Credit in year prices (weekly, in nominal terms) (Median and Mean)

8. Family (Benefit Unit) Income received from State Support

• Family, total, annual amount of Income received from State Support in latest prices (CPI adjusted real terms) (Median and Mean)
• Family, total, annual amount of Income received from State Support in year prices (in nominal terms) (Median and Mean)

9. Household/Family (Benefit Unit) amount of savings and investments

• Household/Family, total amount of savings and investments in latest prices (CPI adjusted real terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household/Family, total amount of savings and investments in year prices (in nominal terms) (Median and Mean)

10. Household rent, repayment mortgage payment

• Household rent, repayment mortgage payment in latest prices (weekly, CPI adjusted real terms) (Median and Mean)
• Household rent, repayment mortgage payment in year prices (weekly, in nominal terms) (Median and Mean)

11. Reporting Period

• Financial Year

12. Geography

• Country of the Household in the United Kingdom
• Great Britain location of the Household
• Region of the Household in the United Kingdom
• Within London, a division between Inner London and Outer London boroughs’

13. Child/Adult/Individual/Family (Benefit Unit)/Household/Household Food Security Characteristics

• Age band of the Child/Adult/Individual/Head of the Family (Benefit Unit)/Head of the Household
• Age band of the Youngest Child in the Family (Benefit Unit)
• Gender of the Child/Adult/Individual
• Economic status of the Family (Benefit Unit)
• Length of residency in property of the Head of the Household
• Tenure type of the Household

14. Type of Adult and Individual

• Type of Individual
• Type of Adult/Type of Adult of the Head of the Household

15. Care

• Whether the Adult/Individual is an Informal Carer
• Whether the Adult/Individual receives care every week
• Person cared for within the Household (carers caring for one person only)
• Person cared for outside the Household (carers caring for one person only)
• Person cared for by the Informal Carer
• Caring for more than one person
• Person or people cared for inside or, and outside of the Household
• Frequency of care received by the Adult/Individual
• Number of hours spent providing care per week
• Whether informal carer is also a sandwich carer
• Caring for one person only
• Informal carers caring for a son or daughter, inside household (caring for one or more people)
• Informal carers caring for a cohabitee, inside household (caring for one or more people)
• Informal carers caring for a parent, inside household (caring for one or more people)
• Informal carers caring for a brother or sister, inside household (caring for one or more people)
• Informal carers caring for a spouse or civil partner, inside household (caring for one or more people)
• Informal carers caring for a son or daughter, outside household (caring for one or more people)
• Informal carers caring for a parent, outside household (caring for one or more people)
• Informal carers caring for a spouse or civil partner, outside household (caring for one or more people)
• Informal carers caring for a non-relative, inside household (caring for one or more people)
• Informal carers caring for other relative, inside household (caring for one or more people)
• Informal carers caring for a non-relative, outside household (caring for one or more people)
• Informal carers caring for a brother, sister or other relative, outside household (caring for one or more people)

16. Disability status and Impairment type

• Disability Status of the Adult/Individual/Family (Benefit Unit)
• Difficulty with dexterity
• Difficulty with hearing
• Difficulty with learning
• Difficulty with memory
• Difficulty with mental health
• Difficulty with mobility
• Social or behavioural difficulty
• Difficulty with stamina or breathing or fatigue
• Difficulty with vision
• Difficulty in other area of life

17. Employment status

• Employment Status of the Adult (detailed breakdowns)
• Employment Status of the Adult (high level breakdowns)
• Self-Employment Status of the Adult

18. Ethnicity

• Harmonised Ethnic Group of the Adult/Head of the Family (Benefit Unit)/Head of the Household high level (please calculate three year averages click on i for the correct method)
• Harmonised Ethnic Group of the Adult/Head of the Family (Benefit Unit)/Head of the Household (please calculate three year averages click on i for the correct method)
• Asian Ethnicity Group of the Adult/Head of the Family (Benefit Unit)/Head of the Household (please calculate three year averages click on i for the correct method)

19. Income

• Main source of Household’s total, gross Income
• Adult total, net Income received from all sources, in bands, in latest prices (weekly, CPI adjusted real terms)
• Adult total, net Income received from all sources, in bands, in year prices (weekly, in nominal terms)
• Household total, gross Income from all sources (in bands with 100 widths) in latest prices (weekly, CPI adjusted real terms)
• Household total, gross Income from all sources (in bands with 100 widths) in year prices (weekly, in nominal terms)
• Household total, gross Income from all sources (in bands with 200 widths) in latest prices (weekly, CPI adjusted real terms)
• Household total, gross Income from all sources (in bands with 200 widths) in year prices (weekly, in nominal terms)

20. Pension scheme participation

• Employment Status of the Adult (for pension type)
• Pension scheme participation of the Adult
• Pension type of the Adult: Any employer-sponsored pension
• Pension type of the Adult: Individual pension
• Employer-sponsored pension type of the Adult: Occupational pension
• Employer-sponsored pension type of the Adult: Group personal pension
• Employer-sponsored pension type of the Adult: Group stakeholder pension
• Individual pension type of the Adult: Personal pension
• Individual pension type of the Adult: Stakeholder pension
• Pension type of the employed Adult: Any employer-sponsored pension
• Pension type of the employed Adult: Personal pension
• Pension type of the employed Adult: Stakeholder pension
• Employer-sponsored pension type of the employed Adult: Occupational pension
• Employer-sponsored pension type of the employed Adult: Group personal pension
• Employer-sponsored pension type of the employed Adult: Group stakeholder pension
• Pension type of the self-employed Adult: Personal pension
• Pension type of the self-employed Adult: Stakeholder pension
• Pension type of the self-employed Adult: Other
• Pension type of the economically inactive Adult: Personal pension
• Pension type of the economically inactive Adult: Stakeholder pension

21. Savings and investments

• Household/Family, total amount of savings and investments, in bands, in latest prices (CPI adjusted real terms)/Individuals in the Household
• Household/Family, total amount of savings and investments, in bands, in year prices (in nominal terms)/Individuals in the Household
• Any accounts, excluding Post Office card accounts (POCAs) belonging to the Adult/Individuals in the Family (Benefit Unit)/Individuals in the Household
• Any accounts, including Post Office card accounts (POCAs) belonging to the Adult/Individuals in the Family (Benefit Unit)/Individuals in the Household
• Any direct payment accounts, excluding Post Office card accounts (POCAs) belonging to the Adult/Individuals in the Family (Benefit Unit)/Individuals in the Household
• Any direct payment accounts, including Post Office card accounts (POCAs) belonging to the Adult/Individuals in the Family (Benefit Unit)/Individuals in the Household
• Any other bank or building society accounts belonging to the Adult/Individuals in the Family (Benefit Unit)/Individuals in the Household
• Any other type of asset belonging to the Adult/Individuals in the Family (Benefit Unit)/Individuals in the Household
• Basic bank accounts belonging to the Adult/Individuals in the Family (Benefit Unit)/Individuals in the Household
• Company share schemes (profit sharing) belonging to the Adult/Individuals in the Family (Benefit Unit)/Individuals in the Household
• Credit union memberships of the Adult/Individuals in the Family (Benefit Unit)/Individuals in the Household
• Current accounts belonging to the Adult/Individuals in the Family (Benefit Unit)/Individuals in the Household
• Individual Saving Accounts (ISAs) belonging to the Adult/Individuals in the Family (Benefit Unit)/Individuals in the Household
• National savings bonds belonging to the Adult/Individuals in the Family (Benefit Unit)/Individuals in the Household
• National Savings & Investments (NS&I) saving accounts belonging to the Adult/Individuals in the Family (Benefit Unit)/Individuals in the Household
• Post Office Card Accounts (POCAs) belonging to the Adult/Individuals in the Family (Benefit Unit)/Individuals in the Household
• Premium bonds belonging to the Adult/Individuals in the Family (Benefit Unit)/Individuals in the Household
• Stocks and shares or share club memberships held by the Adult/Individuals in the Family (Benefit Unit)/Individuals in the Household
• Unit trusts belonging to the Adult/Individuals in the Family (Benefit Unit)/Individuals in the Household
• Unlinked endowment policies belonging to the Adult/Individuals in the Family (Benefit Unit)/Individuals in the Household
• Any informal assets belonging to the Adult/Individuals in the Family (Benefit Unit)/ Individuals in the Household

22. Family (Benefit Unit) Type

• Family Type (high level breakdowns)
• Family Type (detailed breakdowns)
• Marital Status of Adults in the Family (Benefit Unit)
• Type of Couple in the Family (Benefit Unit)

23. Benefit receipt

• Attendance Allowance (AA) received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household
• Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household
• Carer’s Allowance (CA) received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household
• Child Benefit (CHB) received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household
• Child Tax Credits (CTC) including lump sums received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA) Self Care received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household
• Disability Living Allowance (DLA) Mobility received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household
• Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) Income Related or Contributory or both received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household
• Housing Benefit (HB) received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household
• Incapacity Benefit (IB) received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household
• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household
• Income Support (IS) received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household
• Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) Income based or Contributory or both received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household
• Pension Credit (PC) received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Daily Living received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household
• Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Mobility received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household
• Retirement Pension (RP) received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household
• Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household
• Universal Credit (UC) received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household
• Widow’s Benefit (WB) received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household
• Working Tax Credits (WTC) including lump sums received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household
• Council Tax Reduction received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household
• Income-related benefit received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household
• Non-income related benefit received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household
• Tax Credits including lump sums received by the Family (Benefit Unit)/Household

24. Receipt of/amount of income from State Support

• State Support received by the Family (Benefit Unit)
• Family, total, annual amount of Income received from State Support, in bands, in latest prices (CPI adjusted real terms)
• Family, total, annual amount of Income received from State Support, in bands, in year prices (in nominal terms)

25. Household composition

• Household composition by children
• Household composition by children, gender and number of adults
• Household composition by number of adults over State Pension Age
• Household composition by number of disabled adults under State Pension Age
• Household composition by number of unemployed adults under State Pension Age
• Household composition (detailed breakdowns)
• Household composition by number of disabled adults

26. Income from Employment and Self-employment

• Earnings from Employment and Self Employment received by the Household
• Earnings from Employment received by the Household
• Earnings from Self Employment received by the Household

27. Income from Other Sources

• Earnings from Investments and other sources received by the Household
• Earnings from Investments received by the Household
• Earnings from non state pensions received by the Household
• Earnings from other sources received by the Household

28. Income from State Support

• Earnings from Disability Benefits received by the Household
• Earnings from other benefits received by the Household
• Earnings from State Pension, Income Support and Pension Credit received by the Household
• Earnings from State Support received by the Household
• Earnings from Tax Credits received by the Household
• Earnings from Universal Credit received by the Household

29. Childcare

• Whether any form of childcare is used
• Type of childcare used
• Whether there are children in the Family (Benefit Unit)
• Number of children in the Family (Benefit Unit) by number of parents
• Age group of the child
• Weekly number of formal childcare hours used
• Weekly number of informal childcare hours used
• Total cost of childcare, in bands, in latest prices (weekly, CPI adjusted real terms)
• Total cost of childcare, in bands, in year prices (weekly, in nominal terms)
• Formal childcare used
• Formal childcare used - after school club activities
• Formal childcare used - breakfast club
• Formal childcare used – childminder
• Formal childcare used – daycare
• Formal childcare used - holiday scheme club
• Formal childcare used - other formal
• Informal childcare used
• Informal childcare used - family members
• Informal childcare used - other informal including babysitters

30. Household Food Bank Use

• Household’s food bank use in last 12 months
• Household’s food bank use in last 30 days

31. Household Food Security Status

• Household Food Security Status (high level breakdowns)
• Household Food Security Status (detailed breakdowns)

32. Urban and Rural Indicators

• Urban and Rural Indicators (detailed breakdowns)
• Urban and Rural Indicators (high level breakdowns)

Click on the ‘i’ icon for descriptions and any data issues for a breakdown.

7. Current Database Exclusions (available in published tables)

There are no exclusions in this version.

8. Known Issues

The following known issues exist for FRS Stat-Xplore.

Three-Year Average Estimates for Ethnicity

Please note that Stat-Xplore cannot calculate three-year average estimates. However final FRS estimates for ethnicity must be presented as three-year averages. To calculate a three-year average, output estimates for at least three consecutive financial years:

• for numbers - these can be outputted for all years in one table
• for percentages - please output one year at a time in a table (as outputting several years may result in incorrect percentage groupings)

Click on ‘Financial Year’, tick the required year and add to column. To remove the latest financial year, go to ‘Financial Year’, tick on the latest year and then select ‘Remove’ at the top. This should leave just the required financial year.

Alternatively, output several years as numbers in a table and manually calculate the percentages for each year separately in Excel. From this, three year averages can be calculated as below.

An example calculation is:

Year 1 estimate = 120,000

Year 2 estimate = 145,000

Year 3 estimate = 110,000

Three-year average estimate (Year 1 to Year 3) = (Year 1 estimate + Year 2 estimate + Year 3 estimate)/3 = (120,000 + 145,000 + 110,000)/3 = 125,000

FRS Data Changes

• auditing of processing methodology is a regular feature of survey-derived data. Subsequent changes to imputation methodology and the construction of derived variables have led to improvements in the quality of statistics. For example, the components of income-related variables were reviewed in 2021 to 2022, to reflect current income sources more accurately. As a result, the reported income bands were adjusted, to address the need for more granularity at both ends of the income distribution. The same approach has also been applied, for 2022 to 2023, to the bands used for levels of savings and investment
• Rural-Urban classification variables were used in the FRS publication for the first time in the 2021 to 2022 publication of the household food bank usage tables. It was later identified that the Rural-Urban classification on the FRS dataset, both for England and Wales and for Scotland, was still based on the Census 2001 classification. This publication presents tables using the newer Census 2011 classification, and for both 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023 survey years
• for FYE 2023 publication an issue with the variable EDUCQUAL was identified during development work to improve reporting on categories of level of education. This variable is used to present estimates of household food security status and household food bank usage, by educational attainment of head of household. Two breakdowns included in tables 9.5 and 9.16 have not been published and the breakdowns have been temporarily removed from Stat Xplore. There will be an update on restoring these estimates once validation checks are completed
• the “Cost of Living payments” made to households during the 2022 to 2023 financial year have been added to the FRS dataset. This is an important example of how new questions and variables are added, as necessary to reflect changes in policy. FRS published tables using variables that include the calculation of benefit unit and household income now reflect the Cost of Living payments that the person or their household would have received
• new information on childcare is presented in table form for the first time, in this 2022 to 2023 publication. The underlying FRS dataset has contained data on childcare for over ten years. In the 2008 to 2009 survey year, in order to try to reduce disparities between estimates of childcare on different surveys, the FRS questionnaire was adapted to adopt the approach used on the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The content of the FRS publication continues to evolve in response to user needs, with the addition of new material for emerging areas of policy interest
• in the FYE 2022 publication we state that other new questions and variables are added each year, as necessary to reflect changes in policy, such as benefit changes specific to some areas of the UK, and in different policy areas. This enables related policy analysis to be conducted
• for FYE 2022 publication the construction of Income and State Support tables has been reviewed and revisions have been applied to the denominator for income-related components, such that it now correctly includes income from Universal Credit
• for FYE 2022 publication we have reviewed the presentation and content of the Care tables to ensure consistency across categories and improve clarity for users. We have also introduced a Sandwich Carer category for the first time, in some of the Care chapter tables
• the content of the FRS publication continues to evolve in response to user needs, with the addition of new material for emerging areas of policy interest. New information on food bank usage accompanies the Household Food Security chapter, for the 2021 to 2022 publication
• the level of savings and investments, for both families (benefit units) and households, is estimated using a slightly different methodology in Financial Year Ending (FYE 2020), than in previous years. This change has caused a large shift in the division of families (benefit units) and households between the two categories of (i) those with no savings at all to (ii) those with less than £1500 in savings. The new method more accurately estimates savings in current accounts and basic bank accounts resulting in estimates which are closer to those of other major surveys. Further information can be found in the FRS Background and Methodology Note on the FRS homepage
• as advised in a Statistical Notice published in May 2016, FRS has made a methodological change to use variants of CPI when adjusting for inflation from the FYE 2015 publication onwards. Prior to the FYE 2015 FRS publication, variants of RPI were used to adjust for inflation. Therefore, all tables created here will use CPI-adjusted inflation and so will not be consistent with published tables prior to FYE 2015
• the tables use grossing factors based on 2011 Census data, so caution should be exercised when making comparisons with published reports and tables prior to FYE 2013

9. Important Footnotes

A series of footnotes are provided to guide the user when producing estimates.

Table 9: Important Footnotes for FRS Stat-Xplore

Symbol	Description
I	Figures are for the United Kingdom from 2002 to 2003. The reference period is single financial years.
II	Figures derived are unrounded. Before use of these figures, users must use the following rounding conventions: a) Percentages must be rounded to the nearest whole per cent b) Numbers must be rounded to the nearest 0.1 million (or 100,000 individuals) c) Amounts must be rounded to the nearest £1 (weekly) and nearest £100 (annual) These rounding conventions have been set to reflect that FRS estimates are based on survey data and not actual records of individuals in the UK.
III	Small changes in estimates from year to year may not be significant in view of data uncertainties. Please refer to the Important User Guidance on the Home page of the FRS database.
IV	The tables use grossing factors based on 2011 Census data, so caution should be exercised when making comparisons with published reports and tables prior to 2012 to 2013.
V	”..” indicates data not being available in that year.
VI	It is recommended that any estimates for groups of less than 50,000 adults are not used as sample sizes are too small for robust analysis.
cpi	CPI Consumer Price Index. CPI has been used to adjust for inflation and calculate monetary values in real terms. All tables created here apply CPI-adjusted inflation and so will not be consistent with published reports and tables prior to 2014 to 2015.
real	Real terms monetary values have been adjusted for the effects of inflation.
nom	Nominal terms refer to unadjusted monetary values. Values as recorded during the survey year, without taking inflation or other factors into account.
i	Click to view information about the category and any data issues.
nsp	All non-state pensions; this includes both workplace and personal pensions. People can have several different non-state pensions at once.
sc	Self employed incomes do not include any reported grant amounts received as part of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). Wages are treated as income from employment rather than state support, irrespective of any support payments from Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) that the respondent’s employer was receiving in respect of their employment.
spa	From 6 April 2010, the State Pension age has been increasing gradually for women, and since December 2018 has been increasing for both men and women. During the financial year 2020-21, the State Pension age for both men and women had increased to 66 years by the end of the survey year. During financial year 2021-22 and 2022-23 the State Pension age for both men and women was 66.
sp	State Pension and any Income Support or Pension Credit paid with it.
disben	Disability benefits includes Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payments, Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, Attendance Allowance, Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit and any remaining Severe Disablement Allowance cases.
tentyp	This is the basis on which the head of household is resident in their dwelling. Definition of each type of Tenure can be found in the Background Information and Methodology.
pr	All cases where the property is rented from a private landlord, including those on a rent-free basis and those who part-own, part-rent.
dis	Figures from 2013 onwards are based on a different definition of disability to previous years.
hear	Data for the ‘Hearing’ category is to be treated with caution due to the possible sampling limitations of interviewing by telephone in the 2020 to 2021 survey year.
care	Those in receipt of care may be receiving either formal or informal care or a mixture of both.
freq	Those who receive care less than once a week are not included within this table.
ur	Relative to administrative records, the FRS is known to under-report State Support and benefit receipt. Please refer to the M6A and M6B tables in the FRS Methodology and Standard Error data tables.
child	A dependent child is defined as an individual aged under 16. A person will also be defined as a child if they are 16 to 19 years old and they are: Not married nor in a civil partnership nor living with a partner; and Living with parents (or a responsible adult); and In full-time non-advanced education or in unwaged government training.
3ya	Estimates based on ethnicity must be calculated as three year averages as there are small sample sizes for some ethnic groups. Output at least three consecutive financial years: for numbers - these can be outputted for all years in one table, for percentages - please output one year at a time in a table (as outputting several years may result in incorrect percentage groupings). Please see the information page or calculate a three-year average as follows: (yr1 estimate + yr2 estimate + yr3 estimate)/3.
gyp	Sample sizes for ‘Gypsy, Traveller or Irish Traveller’ are small, so for Northern Ireland, ‘Irish Traveller’ is included in ‘Other ethnic group’. For England, Wales and Scotland, ‘Gypsy or Irish Traveller’ is included in ‘White’.
d	It is not possible to disaggregate these categories due to differences in data collection of the country-specific questions.
arab	‘Arab’ has been included in ‘Other ethnic group’ due to small sample sizes.
sd	Ethnic background is self-declared; representation rates are calculated from known declarations and exclude ‘choose not to declare’ and ‘unknown’. For reporting on and interpreting non-mandatory self-declared diversity fields, the minimum threshold is a declaration rate of 70%. This is a recognised threshold and has been chosen to protect against non-response bias and the drawing of false conclusions from the statistics.
nd	From survey year 2020 to 2021 ‘not declared’ has been added as a separate category.
inact	Inactive includes the International Labour Organisation (ILO) defined groups ‘Unemployed’, ‘Retired’, ‘Student’, ‘Looking after home/family’, ‘Permanently sick/disabled’, ‘Temporary sick/injured’ and ‘Other’.
emp	Employment breakdowns cover all adult ages, not just working-age adults.
pentyp	Includes pensions where type of pension is unknown.
sepen	Includes doctors and dentists in private practice who are members of an occupational scheme. Also includes self-employed people; either those who remained in their employer-sponsored scheme when they ceased being an employee or those who are part-time employees, part self-employed.
setyp	Only includes people that have stated self-employment as their main job.
earn	Reported earnings from employment/self-employment, of those who are employed/self-employed in their main job.
ftpt	Full-time or part-time is reported as a description of a person’s main job. Therefore where someone has more than one job the total hours worked across multiple jobs or types of employment is not reflected here.
netearn	Earnings are net of tax payments, National Insurance contributions, contributions to occupational pension schemes, all maintenance and child support payments, and student loan payments; additionally, net earnings exclude any tax credit, Universal Credit or other state benefit which the individual receives (or their share of what the household receives).
netinc	Incomes are net of tax payments, National Insurance contributions, contributions to occupational pension schemes, all maintenance and child support payments, and student loan payments; however, net incomes include any tax credit, Universal Credit, or other state benefit which the individual receives (or their share of what the household receives).
inc	Income includes reported earnings from employment/self employment, of those who are employed/self-employed in their main job.
age	Due to changes to the state-pension age, the age bracket ‘65 to 74’ covers both some working-age adults and some State Pension-age adults from survey year 2018 to 2019 onwards.
oei	‘Other economically inactive’ includes the International Labour Organisation (ILO) defined groups ‘Student’, ‘Looking after home/family’, ‘Permanently sick/disabled’, ‘Temporary sick/injured’ and ‘Other’.
adult	All individuals who are aged 16 and over are classified as an adult, unless the individual is defined as a dependent child. All adults in the household are interviewed as part of the FRS.
adch	Carers may be either adult or children.
sssda	From 2016 to 2017, sample sizes are too small to be presented for Severe Disablement Allowance so this should only be included in combined benefits categories.
uc	Since April 2013, Universal Credit has been replacing income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support, Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and Housing Benefit. UC is being rolled out over a number of years: as a result, the composition of the UC caseload at the current time will not necessarily be the same as when UC is fully rolled-out, and the information in these tables should be seen in this context.
pc	The qualifying age for Pension Credit has increased in line with the increases in State Pension age.
pcbu	Any benefit unit headed by a couple where the head is over State Pension age. Note this differs from the definition used in the Households Below Average Income report, which defines a benefit unit as a pensioner couple if either adult is over State Pension age.
hdbu	Household Reference Person (HRP), which is the person with the highest income. If the HRP does not belong to the benefit unit, then the head of benefit unit is simply the first person from that benefit unit, in the order they were named in the interview. If the HRP does belong to the benefit unit, they are also the head of that benefit unit.
ss (Family (Benefit Unit) Dataset)	State support comprises tax credits and all benefits, including State Pension.
ss (Household Dataset)	Tax Credits, State Pension plus any IS/PC, Disability benefits and other benefits.
sswb	From 2018 to 2019, sample sizes are too small to be presented for Widow’s Benefit so this should only be included in combined benefits categories.
ssiidb	From 2018 to 2019, sample sizes are too small to be presented for Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit so this should only be included in combined benefits categories.
ssafcs	From 2018 to 2019, sample sizes are too small to be presented for Armed Forces Compensation Scheme so this should only be included in combined benefits categories.
ssuc	Prior to 2017 to 2018, sample sizes are too small to be presented for Universal Credit so this should only be included in combined benefits categories.
ssib	From 2016 to 2017, sample sizes are too small to be presented for Incapacity Benefit so this should only be included in combined benefit categories.
empse	Wages, salaries and self-employed income.
rinc	Investments and Other Sources.
hdhh	‘Head’ in tables relating to households is the Household Reference Person, which is the person with the highest income.
prexc	Where the property is rented from a private landlord, but excluding those who part-own, part-rent (for tables of tenure type of the household by household rent, repayment mortgage payment).
rmort	Mortgages include repayment mortgages only i.e. mortgages where both a capital payment and an interest payment are made each month. For example interest-only mortgages are excluded.
hhnonhh	These categories do not include informal carers caring for more than one person (within or outside the Household, or both).
more	These categories do not include informal carers caring for one person only (within or outside the Household).
dividend	From 2021-22 income from directors’ dividends has been included in this category. For more information please see the Background Information and Methodology for the FRS 2021-22 publication.
infcarers	Some informal carers caring for multiple people living outside their household may not be counted as such under some circumstances. This will occur when an informal carer cares for multiple people within a single category of care recipients outside their household (besides parents) but care for no others outside their household.
covid	Data collection during the financial year 2020 to 2021 was significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. While corrective measures were put in place to minimise disruption, a smaller and a less representative sample was nevertheless collected. For further information please see the Background Information and Methodology for this publication and that of the Family Resources Survey: financial year 2020 to 2021.
sandcarers	Sandwich carers are defined in this analysis as anyone aged between 16 and 70 inclusive who: a) is themselves an adult with a child in their benefit unit AND/OR cares for a child within the household; and b) also cares for an adult relative. Carers can be counted both as sandwich carers and as carers for other care recipient groups.
othassets	Any other type of asset’ includes Government Gilt Edged Stocks, Save-As-You-Earn (SAYE) schemes, endowments, Guaranteed Equity Bonds and Friendly society investments.
careav	Data for this category is not available prior to survey year 2003-04.
selfemp	Negative self-employment values are excluded.
pension	Sub categories (occupational, group personal) don’t sum due to rounding and some individuals having both types of pension. Similarily, some individuals will have both a personal pension and employer-sponsored pension.
discolp	In 2022-23, income from Disability Cost of Living Payment included. For more information please refer to the Background Information and Methodology document for this publication.
othcolp	In 2022-23, income from Pensioner Cost of Living Payment and low income benefits and tax credits Cost of Living Payment included. For more information please refer to the Background Information and Methodology document for this publication.
colpall	In 2022-23, income from Pensioner Cost of Living Payment, Disability Cost of Living Payment and low income benefits and tax credits Cost of Living Payment included. For more information please refer to the Background Information and Methodology document for this publication.
daycare	Daycare is defined by those childcare arrangements that are used within typical working hours during the week: playgroup or pre-school, day nursery or creche, nursery school, nursery class (attached to Primary/Infants School), reception class (at Primary/Infants School) and special day school/nursery unit for children with special educational needs.
othfor	Other formal is defined by those childcare arrangements that fit into one of the following categories: other formal and nanny/au pair.
form	Formal childcare is defined by those childcare arrangements that fit into one of the following categories: playgroup or preschool, day nursery or creche, nursery school, nursery class (attached to a Primary/Infants school), reception class (at Primary/Infants school), breakfast clubs, after-school club/activities, holiday scheme/club, special day school/nursery unit for children with special education needs, nanny/au pair, other formal childcare and childminders.
inform	Informal childcare is defined by those childcare arrangements that fit into one of the following categories: grandparents, child’s brother or sister or other relatives, friends or neighbours or other non-relatives (includes babysitters).
fammem	Family members is defined by those childcare arrangements that fit into one of the following categories: grandparents, child’s brother or sister or other relatives.
othinf	Other informal defined by those childcare arrangements that fit into one of the following categories: friends or neighbours or other non-relatives (includes babysitters).
totcost	Total cost is defined as the total weekly cost of childcare per family (benefit unit). This is the combined cost to the family for any type of childcare used in the past seven days.
lt50	Families (benefit units) with children who used childcare but reported paying nothing for it are not included in this category.
forminf	Formal and informal childcare only is a category for benefit units who use both formal and informal childcare, as opposed to formal childcare only or informal childcare only.
chldcarefrm	Data in this table should be presented as ‘Number / percentage of all benefit units reported they used some form of childcare’.
infchldcare	Data in this table should be presented as ‘Number / percentage of all benefit units with children, for whom childcare was used, reported using informal childcare’.
fchldcare	Data in this table should be presented as ‘Number / percentage of all benefit units in receipt of state support with children for whom childcare was used reported using formal childcare’.
othform	Other formal is defined by those childcare arrangements that fit into one of the following categories: other formal and nanny/au pair.
agegrp	The ‘3 to 5 years old, not attending school’ category has an age overlap with the next category ‘4 to 11 years old, attending school’. This is due to some children aged 4 or 5 not attending primary education due to how their birthday falls in the academic year; hence, separate categories for children not attending school versus attending school have been created. These two categories are mutually exclusive, meaning there are no children that belong to both categories. Further categories are based on the ages that children attend primary and secondary education respectively. Children over the age of sixteen have not been included in the FRS childcare dataset.
hr	Hours of childcare is defined as the total hours of childcare per week at the individual record level.
daycare2	Data in this table should be presented as ‘Number / percentage of all children for whom childcare was used where reported to use daycare’.
hrpwk	Data in this table should be presented as ‘Number / percentage of all children for whom formal childcare was used were reported to use between 6 and 10 hours of childcare per week’.
cost	Data in this table should be presented as ‘Number / percentage of all children for whom paid formal childcare was used incurred a cost of less than £50 a week on childcare’.
chldcare	Data in this table should be presented as ‘Number / percentage of all children for whom childcare was used’.
edatt	Educational attainment is measured by the highest level of qualification achieved. England, Wales and Northern Ireland use a range from Entry Level to Level 8. Scottish qualifications use a range from 1 to 12, but have been converted to the England, Wales and Northern Ireland system using an equivalency chart.
entlvl	This includes qualifications such as Entry Level Awards and Entry Level Functional Skills.
lvl1	This includes qualifications such as GCSEs (grades 1-3/G-D) and Scottish National 4 qualifications.
lvl2	This includes qualifications such as GCSEs (grade 4/C and above) and Scottish National 5 qualifications.
lvl3	This includes qualifications such as A levels and Scottish Highers.
lvl4+	This covers a range of further education and university qualifications, including undergraduate degrees (such as BA, BSc, LLB), Master’s degrees, doctoral qualifications (such as PhDs), most professional medical qualifications and PGCEs.
othqual	This covers qualifications where the exact type or level could not be established during the interview.
hfss	Data in this table should be presented as “Number / percentage of households meeting specific condition have high food security.”
foodbank12m	Data in this table should be presented as “Number / percentage of households meeting specific condition have used a food bank in the last 12 months.”
foodbank30d	Data in this table should be presented as “Number / percentage of households meeting specific condition have used a food bank in the last 30 days.”
colpallhh	In 2022-23, income from Pensioner Cost of Living Payment, Disability Cost of Living Payment, low income benefits and tax credits Cost of Living Payment, Council Tax energy rebate, Energy Bills Support Scheme, Warm Home Discount and Welsh Fuel Support Scheme included. For more information please refer to the Background Information and Methodology document for this publication.
urbsc	Data in this table should be presented as “Number / percentage of households in an urban area in Scotland have used a food bank in the previous 12 months.”
newurbrur	New urban rural classifications based on the Census 2011 were used to produce this table. For further information please see the Background Information & Methodology.
defurbrur	Definitions for the new categories used for England and Wales can be found in the Background Information & Methodology.
revision	The data presented in this table is a revision of the survey year 2021 to 2022 with the use of updated urban rural classifications and categories. For further information please see the Background Information & Methodology.
ucflag	Data not available prior to survey year 2016-17.
mortrent	Shared ownership schemes, where combined payments towards mortgage and rent, are included in the mortgage repayment category.

Note that footnotes are not displayed on percentages tables in FRS Stat-Xplore.

10. How the Database Works

Log in to the Stat-Xplore database.

Please take the tour to learn about how to use a Stat-Xplore database.

Click on the three dots on the top right-hand corner of the page (see blue arrow in the image below) and select to find the ‘Tour’ again if you have visited the website before.

Further really useful guidance can be found by selecting the ‘?’ icon (see green arrow in the image below).

Figure 1: Stat-Xplore Database

On the main Stat Xplore website, scroll down to the Family Resources Survey Database and select it.

Figure 2a and 2b: FRS Stat-Xplore Database – Family Resources Survey

Once Family Resources Survey database is selected, available datasets will be shown (figure 2a) and main information page will be displayed on screen (figure 2b). Please take time to read the front, information page for important information on rounding final figures and known issues.

Figure 2a

Figure 2b

Family Resources Survey data on Stat Xplore is available on the following levels:

• Adult
• Child
• Individual
• Family (Benefit Unit)
• Household
• Household Food Security

Each level forms its own dataset. Information about each, individual dataset can be accessed by clicking on it. Users are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the information about the dataset prior to accessing the data. Dataset metadata information and ready-made tables can also be accessed from this screen, as shown in figure 3.

Figure 3

To access data, users can follow a link from the dataset information page or double-click the dataset itself.

11. Ready-Made Tables

A selection of ready-made tables is available for each dataset, to allow users to quickly output main headline FRS estimates or use as a starting point for further analysis. These can be modified, with additional categories added.

Here is the Ready-Made Table 2 from Individual dataset: ‘Financial Year by Gender of the Individual and Disability Status of the Individual’.

Figure 4: Ready-Made Table 2 from Individual dataset: ‘Financial Year by Gender of the Individual and Disability Status of the Individual’

12. User-Defined Analysis

To create user-defined tabulations, double-click on the dataset icon, or click ‘Go to dataset’ link on dataset information page.

Figure 5: FRS Stat-Xplore Data Screen – Adult Dataset Example

a. Removing Financial Year total

As with other breakdowns, ‘Financial Year’ has a total column or row by default.

However, please remove the total before outputting tables by clicking on the three dots next to the ‘Financial Year’ label in the table and unticking the ‘Total’.

Figure 6: Removing Financial Year Total

b. Financial Year as a Row

‘Financial Year’ is a mandatory field and the most recent year of published data will always be displayed as a column by default.

To have ‘Financial Year’ as a row:

• drag ‘Financial Year’ over the ‘third square down’

Figure 7: Financial Year as a Row

c. Selecting Specific Financial Years

To select specific financial years:

• double click on the ‘Financial Year’ breakdown on the left hand-side
• tick the required years
• select ‘Column’ or ‘Row’ at the top (depending on whether the ‘Financial Year’ is a row or column)

d. Removing the Latest Financial Year

To remove the latest year, click on the year and select ‘remove’ at the top.

e. Creating, Editing and Exporting a Numbers Table

Once the ‘Financial Year(s)’ row or column selection is complete, the user can select breakdowns as columns or rows and click on ‘Retrieve Data’ to get the outputs.

Numbers are presented by default in the FRS Stat-Xplore Database.

Note that:

• any relevant footnotes to the breakdowns selected will also be displayed
• to remove a breakdown, drag it to the ‘Remove Item’ icon above the table
• to clear the table, click on the ‘Clear Table’ icon above the table
• to output to Excel, click on the ‘Go’ icon at the very top right corner of the screen

Figure 8: Creating, Editing and Exporting a Numbers Table

f. Converting a Numbers Table to Percentages Table

To convert a numbers table to a percentages table:

• select the ‘Table Options’ icon above the table
• select the ‘Percentages’ option
• select the appropriate ‘Column’ or ‘Row’ to convert to percentages

Figure 9: Converting a Numbers Table to Percentages Table

Note that:

• Footnotes are not displayed for percentages tables
• To convert back to numbers, repeat the instructions above and select ‘None’

Please add Source: FRS Stat-Xplore to any analysis shared or published.

13. Further Top Tips

A series of further top tips when using Stat-Xplore.

Stat-Xplore versus Published Tables

• check whether the breakdown you require is currently available in the Published Tables already
• take care when trying to replicate published tables and use them to quality assure the Stat-Xplore outputs before creating further analysis
• majority of the FRS published tables present data in percentages, to replicate these, change Stat Xplore data table displays via ‘Table Options’ function
• not all published table breakdowns are available in Stat-Xplore – see ‘7. Current Database Exclusions (available in published tables)’

Building a Table

The Ready-Made Tables allow instant export and analysis for a selection of breakdowns in each FRS dataset. These can provide a good foundation for further analysis of headline FRS estimates.

When producing new tables:

• it is generally recommended to have ‘Financial Year’ as a column so that time-series outputs go across the table

Build a table in the following order:

1. Filter

2. Wafer

3. Column

4. Row

Stat Xplore Default Options

• there are a number of default functions on Stat Xplore platform. Not all are relevant to FRS database
• RSE function. RSE stands for Relative Standard Error. The FRS database is weighted to provide population estimates. The weighted plugin also adds RSE figures. This has been set to zero so users can ignore
• range function for Measures. This is available to allow users to create their own ranges. Users are advised to use appropriate ranges for weekly and annual measures

Please add Source: FRS Stat-Xplore to any analysis shared or published.

Please email team.frs@dwp.gov.uk with comments and suggestions.