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Statistical press release family resources survey urban rural report statistics

Thursday, 29 November 2007

Approximately one in two households in the Urban West of Northern Ireland had no savings at all.

This is one of the key findings in a report called “Family Resources Survey Urban Rural Report Northern Ireland 2005-06”

Other key facts include:

Household Characteristics:

The Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area (henceforth referred to as the BMUA) had the highest proportion of households without children whilst the Rural West had the lowest proportion.

An East-West difference was found within the Urban areas for religious denomination, with the Urban East comprising 59% Protestant and 29% Catholic households, compared to the Urban West which comprised 29% Protestant and 62% Catholic households.

Household Income and State Support:

The Urban West derived the highest proportion of social security disability and other benefits of all the categories whilst the Rural East derived the least from this source.

The Urban West had the highest proportion of households in receipt of any income related benefit whilst the Rural East had the lowest proportion.

Tenure and Housing Costs:

In 2005-06, the Rural East category had the lowest proportion of households in the social rented sector whilst the highest proportion of households in this sector was found in the Urban West.

The Rural East had the highest proportion of owner-occupier households.

The BMUA recorded the highest proportion of households with weekly housing costs of £80 or more.

Assets and Savings:

Of the five categories, the BMUA recorded the lowest proportion of households with current accounts whilst the Urban East reported the highest proportion.

The Rural East and the BMUA recorded the highest proportion of households having savings of £10,000 or more, with one in four households in this category having such savings, compared to only one in seven households in the BMUA.

Approximately one in two households in the Urban West had no savings at all.

Occupation and Employment:

Urban areas recorded the highest proportion of households with at least one permanently sick or disabled member, but recorded the joint lowest proportion of households with at least one retired member, along with the Rural area.

Rural areas reported the highest proportion of males and females in full time employment.

Rural areas housed the highest proportion of skilled trades people.

Deprivation:

Urban areas were consistently the highest scoring of the three categories on all of the deprivation indicators used.

The Urban West had the highest proportion of households scoring on each of the deprivation indicators, whilst the Rural East had the lowest proportion in all but four.

Income Before and After Housing Costs:

In 2005-06, households in Urban areas had lower than average gross and net incomes, and consistently fell below all of the NI average incomes both before and after housing costs (BHC and AHC).

The BMUA consistently exceeded all of the NI average incomes.

The lowest regional average weekly income BHC and AHC was recorded in the Rural West.

Of the five categories, the BMUA housed the highest proportion of individuals living on 50% below the UK mean income AHC or 60% below the UK median income AHC.

Notes to Editors:

  1. This survey collects data on income levels, resources and financial circumstances of individuals and households for the period from April 2005 to March 2006 and was introduced for Northern Ireland in 2002/03.
  2. Other government social surveys, such as the Family Expenditure Survey (FES), also collect this data, but the FRS provides much more detailed information, and brings some topics together on one survey for the first time.
  3. The Urban Rural classification used was that published by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency on 10th February 2005.
  4. The report is available on the Department for Social Development’s website at http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/publications/urban_rural_reports.htm. Hard copies are available from the Statistics & Research Branch (Core), Department for Social Development, Level Four, James House, 2 Cromac Avenue, Gasworks Business Park, Ormeau Road, Belfast, BT7 2JD; Telephone - (028) 90 819937; E-mail srb@dsdni.gov.uk
  5. Media enquiries to DSD Information Office on 028 9082 9078. Out of office hours please contact the Duty Press Officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.