Domain review
Living Standards
Measures whether ordinary households can maintain stable lives.
Living Standards is currently rated Strained. The domain score is driven primarily by Real average weekly earnings growth, Energy bill affordability pressure and Household arrears and insolvency pressure. Data confidence is medium across its component metrics.
Component indicators
Living Standards — Metrics
Real household disposable income per head
2025
Verified official value from ONS (CRXX/UKEA), accessed 2026-06-13.
Evidence file
Real household disposable income per head
Latest reading
2025
Scoring breakdown
Source
Real household disposable income per head
- Update frequency
- Quarterly
- Reliability
- high
Provenance
- Provider
- ONS
- Series ID
- CRXX/UKEA
- Frequency
- annual
- Accessed
- 13 June 2026
Known weakness
Headline mean masks large distributional differences; income quintile breakdowns lag by up to 12 months.
Notes
Verified official value from ONS (CRXX/UKEA), accessed 2026-06-13.
Real average weekly earnings growth
2026
Verified official value from ONS (A2F9/EMP), accessed 2026-06-13.
Evidence file
Real average weekly earnings growth
Latest reading
2026
Scoring breakdown
Source
Labour market overview
- Update frequency
- Monthly
- Reliability
- medium
Provenance
- Provider
- ONS
- Series ID
- A2F9/EMP
- Frequency
- monthly
- Accessed
- 13 June 2026
Known weakness
Average weekly earnings is a mean (not a median) and covers Great Britain only; the real-terms figure depends on the chosen inflation deflator.
Notes
Verified official value from ONS (A2F9/EMP), accessed 2026-06-13.
Poverty after housing costs
2024
Verified official value from DWP (Stat-Xplore) (HBAI_ADMIN), accessed 2026-06-13.
Evidence file
Poverty after housing costs
Latest reading
2024
Scoring breakdown
Source
Households Below Average Income
- Update frequency
- Annual
- Reliability
- high
Provenance
- Provider
- DWP (Stat-Xplore)
- Series ID
- HBAI_ADMIN
- Frequency
- annual financial year (DWP Stat-Xplore, derived %)
- Accessed
- 13 June 2026
Known weakness
HBAI data carries approximately a 12-month lag, meaning the most recent year's figures reflect conditions from the prior year.
Notes
Verified official value from DWP (Stat-Xplore) (HBAI_ADMIN), accessed 2026-06-13.
Energy bill affordability pressure
Feb–Mar 2025
Verified official value from ONS (Opinions and Lifestyle Survey) (energy bills affordability), accessed 2026-06-13.
Evidence file
Energy bill affordability pressure
Latest reading
Feb–Mar 2025
Scoring breakdown
Source
Opinions and Lifestyle Survey
- Update frequency
- Periodic
- Reliability
- medium
Provenance
- Provider
- ONS (Opinions and Lifestyle Survey)
- Series ID
- energy bills affordability
- Frequency
- periodic
- Accessed
- 13 June 2026
Known weakness
ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey is a small quota sample; the energy-bills affordability question is the available proxy — no combined food-and-energy affordability rate is published — and fieldwork is periodic.
Notes
Verified official value from ONS (Opinions and Lifestyle Survey) (energy bills affordability), accessed 2026-06-13.
Household arrears and insolvency pressure
2025
Verified official value from Insolvency Service (individual insolvency rate, E&W), accessed 2026-06-13.
Evidence file
Household arrears and insolvency pressure
Latest reading
2025
Scoring breakdown
Source
Individual insolvency statistics
- Update frequency
- Quarterly
- Reliability
- high
Provenance
- Provider
- Insolvency Service
- Series ID
- individual insolvency rate, E&W
- Frequency
- annual
- Accessed
- 13 June 2026
Known weakness
Insolvency counts reflect court activity and legal thresholds rather than the broader population in arrears, understating household financial stress.
Notes
Verified official value from Insolvency Service (individual insolvency rate, E&W), accessed 2026-06-13.
Fuel poverty
2024
Verified official value from Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (desnz_fuel_poverty), accessed 2026-06-14.
Evidence file
Fuel poverty
Latest reading
2024
Scoring breakdown
Source
Annual Fuel Poverty Statistics in England
- Update frequency
- Annual
- Reliability
- high
Provenance
- Provider
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
- Series ID
- desnz_fuel_poverty
- Frequency
- Annual
- Accessed
- 14 June 2026
Known weakness
England-only LILEE metric (devolved nations use different definitions); the LILEE definition changed in 2021 and pre-2019 backcasts are indicative.
Notes
Verified official value from Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (desnz_fuel_poverty), accessed 2026-06-14.
Household food insecurity
FYE 2024-25
Verified official value from Department for Work and Pensions (dwp_frs), accessed 2026-06-14.
Evidence file
Household food insecurity
Latest reading
FYE 2024-25
Scoring breakdown
Source
Family Resources Survey
- Update frequency
- Annual
- Reliability
- high
Provenance
- Provider
- Department for Work and Pensions
- Series ID
- dwp_frs
- Frequency
- Annual
- Accessed
- 14 June 2026
Known weakness
UK; the Family Resources Survey food-security module only began in 2019/20, so the series is short and the 2020/21 COVID telephone-only year is not directly comparable.
Notes
Verified official value from Department for Work and Pensions (dwp_frs), accessed 2026-06-14.
Historical values
Metric trends
Historical values
Real household disposable income per head
Latest
25,358£ per head per year (real terms)Real household disposable income per head — £ per head per year (real terms) — reported values, not stress scores.
Historical values
Real average weekly earnings growth
Latest
-0.2% year-on-year (real terms)Real average weekly earnings growth — % year-on-year (real terms) — reported values, not stress scores.
Historical values
Poverty after housing costs
Latest
19.6% of populationPoverty after housing costs — % of population — reported values, not stress scores.
Historical values
Energy bill affordability pressure
Latest
36% of bill-payers finding energy bills difficult to affordEnergy bill affordability pressure — % of bill-payers finding energy bills difficult to afford — reported values, not stress scores.
Historical values
Household arrears and insolvency pressure
Latest
25.3individual insolvencies per 10,000 adultsHousehold arrears and insolvency pressure — individual insolvencies per 10,000 adults — reported values, not stress scores.
Historical values
Fuel poverty
Latest
11% of households (LILEE)Fuel poverty — % of households (LILEE) — reported values, not stress scores.
Historical values
Household food insecurity
Latest
9% of people in food-insecure householdsHousehold food insecurity — % of people in food-insecure households — reported values, not stress scores.
Data provenance
Sources for this domain
| Organisation | Dataset | Type | Frequency | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office for National Statistics | Real household disposable income per head | Official | Quarterly | Source ↗ |
| Office for National Statistics | Labour market overview | Official | Monthly | Source ↗ |
| Department for Work and Pensions | Households Below Average Income | Official | Annual | Source ↗ |
| Office for National Statistics | Opinions and Lifestyle Survey | Survey | Periodic | Source ↗ |
| Insolvency Service | Individual insolvency statistics | Official | Quarterly | Source ↗ |
| Department for Energy Security and Net Zero | Annual Fuel Poverty Statistics in England | Official | Annual | Source ↗ |
| Department for Work and Pensions | Family Resources Survey | Official | Annual | Source ↗ |
How the Living Standards domain is scored
The domain score is the median of the 7 component metric stress scores. Using the median reduces sensitivity to a single anomalous metric.
Each metric stress score is calculated as:
metric_stress = clamp(0.6 × level_score + 0.3 × trend_score + 0.1 × volatility_score, 0, 100)The Living Standards domain carries a weight of 13% in the national index. Full methodology: methodology page.
Sensitivity analysis
What would move this domain?
The Living Standards domain score is most sensitive to its two highest-stress indicators. Meaningful improvement in either of the following metrics would be the most direct path to improving the domain score:
- 78
Real average weekly earnings growth
Year-on-year real-terms growth in average weekly earnings (regular pay, excluding bonuses), indicating whether typical pay is keeping pace with inflation.
- 52
Energy bill affordability pressure
Share of adults who pay energy bills and find them very or somewhat difficult to afford, capturing acute cost-of-living stress beyond income measures.