The Northern Ireland Family Resources Survey, 2013/14 is released

Date published: 22 October 2015

Key facts include:

Income and State Support

• Income from employment (wages, salaries and income from self-employment) made up 69% of total household income in Northern Ireland in 2013/14, compared to the United Kingdom average of 72%. Income from benefits and tax credits, and income from private pensions made up 21% and 7% respectively with the remainder coming from a variety of other sources. These proportions have been fairly stable over the last ten years
• In 2013/14, just under two-thirds (63%) of all families were in receipt of at least one form of state support or tax credits, this was a similar level to the previous two years. In total 22% of families received State Pension and 25% received Child Benefit

Tenure

• The percentage of households owned outright has increased from 31% in 2003/04 to 37% in 2013/14. In contrast, the percentage buying with a mortgage declined by 12 percentage points between 2003/04 and 2013/14 (41% to 29%)
• In 2003/04 the percentage of households in the social rented sector (17%) was almost twice the percentage in the private rented sector (10%). However by 2013/14 the percentage of households in the social rented sector had fallen by 3 percentage points to 14%, whereas the percentage of households in the private rented sector had increased by 11 percentage points to 21%
• The percentage of households headed by someone aged 25-34 years that are in the privately rented sector has increased from 16% in 2003/04 to 47% in 2013/14. Over the same period, the percentage buying with a mortgage in this age category has decreased from 66% to 35%
• In 2013/14 median weekly household rent in Northern Ireland was higher for private sector rents (£92) than for social sector rents (£69). Comparing the regions of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland had the joint lowest ratio between median weekly private sector rents and social sector rents (1.3; equal to the North East, East and West Midlands and Wales) and the highest was observed in Inner-London (2.5). This compares to the United Kingdom figure of 1.5

Savings and Investments

• In 2013/14, 93% of households in Northern Ireland had a direct payment account including Post Office Card Accounts compared to a United Kingdom overall figure of 97%. The highest proportion of those with no direct payment account included single males without children, those who are ‘workless, other inactive’ and those aged 16-24
• In 2013/14, 59% of families had no savings. Those least likely to have savings included single adults with children, ‘workless, other inactive’, and households with lower incomes

Carers and Disability

• In 2013/14, 8% of working age adults, 8% of State Pension age adults, and 2% of children were carers. These figures have remained relatively stable over the last 10 years
• There were large differences in the main sources of household income reported by individuals receiving care and the overall population; wages and salaries were the main source of income for 25% of individuals receiving care compared with 61% of the population. Similarly Retirement Pension plus any Income Support/Pension Credits was the main source of income for 34% of individuals receiving care compared to 10% of the population
• In 2013/14 disability prevalence was approximately 19% (0.3 million) of the Northern Ireland population. This level has been relatively constant over the last 10 years and is the same as the United Kingdom level
• There were large differences in the main source of household income for those individuals with a disability compared to the overall population; wages and salaries were the main source of income for 32% of individuals with a disability compared to 61% of the population. Similarly Retirement Pension plus any Income Support/Pension Credit and benefits (disability and social security) were the main source of income for 29% and 25% of individuals with a disability respectively compared to just 10% and 13% of the overall population respectively

Occupation and Employment

• In Northern Ireland, the employment status of adults has remained relatively stable over time. In 2013/14, just over a half of all adults (51%) were employees, including those in full and part-time work, while 8% of adults were self-employed. This compares to 50% and 9% of adults in 2003/04
• In 2013/14, 28% of adults contributed to a pension. Employees have the highest pension participation rate (50%), followed by self employed (26%) and the inactive (1%). Overall participation rates in employer-sponsored pension schemes were similar for males and females (24% and 25% respectively). However, participation in individual personal pension schemes is lower for females (2%) than for males (6%). Differences in personal pension participation rates between males and females will be affected by differences in economic status