FOI reference: FOI-2024-2222
You asked
Following the recent publication of the Family Spending Workbook 1: detailed expenditure and trends, I would like to request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 any available data for detailed household expenditure by age of household reference person between 2022/23?
If this is possible, could this data be compiled into a document in the style of table A11 Family Spending Workbook 1 seen in previous years. My understanding is this data was not produced this year, due to the fact the sample size was not large enough to conform to the Code of Practice of Statistics, but I would still be interested in reviewing this data.
Could the data set include the following:
Age bands: Under 30, 30-49, 50-64, 65-74, 75+
Total household spending on: Food & non-alcoholic drink; Alcoholic drink, tobacco & narcotics; Clothing & footwear; Housing (net), fuel and power; Household goods and services; Health; Transport; Communication; Recreation and Culture; Education; Restaurants and hotels; Miscellaneous goods and services; Other expenditure items.
Categories 1-11 do not need to be broken down into their constituent parts; however, could "Miscellaneous goods and services" as well as "Other expenditure items" be broken down into each item as seen in previous A11 tables as well as the 3.1 table detailed household expenditure "Detailed household expenditure by disposable income decile group".
I just need the most recent data, 2022-23.
We said
Thank you for your request.
The Living Costs and Food Survey (LCF) produces data on household expenditure in the UK.
As part of previous publications, we published a table estimating household spending broken down by the age of the household reference person (A11). However, to ensure quality and align with the Code of Practice for Statistics, all tables have been reviewed for robustness and as such, a small number of tables have been removed, and some additional suppression applied because of data volatility. As such this table is no longer produced.
As you've requested estimates of spending at the high-level categories, eg. Food and non-alcoholic drinks, by the age of the household reference person, this data can be found within published tables (spending at lower categories than those shown in these tables, by age of household reference is not published):
- A12: Household expenditure by gross income quintile group where the household reference person is aged under 30
- A13: Household expenditure by gross income quintile group where the household reference person is aged 30 to 49
- A14: Household expenditure by gross income quintile group where the household reference person is aged 50 to 64
- A15: Household expenditure by gross income quintile group where the household reference person is aged 65 to 74
- A16: Household expenditure by gross income quintile group where the household reference person is aged 75 or over
For example, the average weekly spend in FYE 23 by households where the household reference person was aged under 30, on food and non-alcoholic drinks was £52.40.
As all spend in tables A12 - A16 is at the total spend for main categories , eg. food and non-alcoholic drinks, providing spending for lower level spending for categories such as "Miscellaneous goods and services" and "Other expenditure items" would require us to create new information, which we are not obliged to do under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). However, we may be able create this, or something similar, for you via our bespoke analysis services, subject to statistical testing and disclosure procedures. These services are subject to legal frameworks, resources, and agreement of costs, in line with the ONS Charging Policy. There is more information on our publication scheme on the ONS website: https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/whatwedo/statistics/publicationscheme.
If you would be interested in having us produce this, we can be contacted at LCF_Enquiries@ons.gov.uk