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

A publication entitled “The Family Resources Survey Urban Rural Report, Northern Ireland 2013/14” was published today by DSD.

The Family Resources Survey Urban Rural Report is produced annually by the Department for Social Development and contains estimates and trends of various household characteristics, by urban rural classification.

Key facts include:

Household Income and State Support Receipt

• the Urban East region derived the highest proportion of income from wages and salaries, at 68%, compared to a Northern Ireland average of 62%
• rural regions had the highest proportion of income coming from self-employment, 14% in the Rural West and 13% in the Rural East
• over the time series 2002/03 to 2013/14, Urban areas had the highest percentage of households receiving any income related benefit and Rural areas had the lowest, at 34% and 24% respectively

Tenure and Housing Costs

• since 2002/03 the percentage of households owned outright in Northern Ireland increased from 30% to 37% in 2013/14. In contrast, the percentage buying with a mortgage declined by 14 percentage points between 2002/03 and 2013/14 (43% to 29%)
• in 2013/14 Rural areas reported the highest level of accommodation owned outright, at 48%
• the Urban West had the highest percentage of households renting from the private rented sector (25%) and Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area had the highest percentage of households in the social rented sector (19%)
• excluding households owned outright approximately one fifth of households in Northern Ireland paid between £60 and £79 per week on housing costs

Savings and Investments

• over the time series 2002/03 to 2013/14, the percentage of households holding a direct payment account (including Post Office Card Accounts) in Northern Ireland increased from 84% to 93%. This increase was reflective across all Urban Rural areas
• in 2013/14 the percentage of households holding a direct payment ranged from 92% in the Urban and Rural areas to 95% in the Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area
• over the long term the level of households with no savings and investments has increased from 42% in 2002/03 to 51% in 2013/14, with Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area and Urban areas seeing a more marked increase
• the Urban area has the highest percentage of households with no savings and investments in 2013/14, at 56%, while the Rural area had the lowest, at 45%

Occupation and Employment

• in the Rural area 22% of males were self-employed, compared to a Northern Ireland male self-employed average of 12%
• the Urban East had the highest percentage of male employees (62%) and the Urban East and Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area had the highest percentage of female employees (53%)
• the Urban West reported the lowest percentage of males (57%) and joint lowest percentage of females (50%) in employment

Income

• in 2013/14 the Northern Ireland median income was £404 before housing costs and £364 after housing costs. Rural East region had the highest level of income on both these measures; £442 before housing costs and £401 after housing costs
• since 2002/03, the start of the time series, the Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area consistently reported higher levels of equivalised income (before housing costs), when compared to the Urban area and Rural area
• all urban rural areas have seen an overall decrease in median income since 2002/03. The greatest decrease was reported in the Rural area, which has decreased by 8%
• the Rural West reported the highest percentage of individuals in relative poverty (before housing costs), at 32%; compared to 15% in Urban East, and a Northern Ireland average of 21%

Deprivation

• across most of the material deprivation indicators the Urban West region had the highest percentage of households considered to be in material deprivation; while the Rural East had the lowest
• the two deprivation indicators that all regions showed high levels of material deprivation on were ‘make savings of £10 per month or more’ and ‘holiday away from home one week a year not staying with relatives’
• over two fifths of households in the Urban West could not afford to have a holiday away from home one week a year not staying with relatives (41%) or to make savings of £10 per month or more (44%).

Notes to editors: 

1. The statistics contained in the publication are derived from the Family Resources Survey in Northern Ireland. This survey collects detailed data on income levels, resources and financial circumstances of individuals and households for the period from April 2013 to the end of March 2014. The FRS has been carried out in Great Britain since 1992, but 2002/03 saw the introduction of Northern Ireland for the first time.
2. Households interviewed in the survey are asked a wide range of questions about their circumstances. Although some of the information collected is available elsewhere, the FRS provides new or much more detailed information in a number of areas and brings some topics together on one survey.
3. Although the FRS is specifically of interest to DSD, other government departments and outside researchers will benefit from the availability of such a data source. The database can be accessed through the UK Data Service
4. View this publication and previous editions
5. Further enquiries should be addressed to:
   Analytical Services Unit
   Department for Social Development
   Level 1 James House
   Gasworks Business Park
   Belfast
   BT7 2JA
   Telephone – 028 9081 9907
   email – asu@dsdni.gov.uk
6. All media queries should be directed to the Department for Social Development Press Office on 028 9082 9496 or email press.office@dsdni.gov.uk. Out of office hours please contact the duty press officer via pager number 07699 715 440 and your call will be returned.

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