6523.0 - Household Income and Income Distribution, Australia, 2003-04

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 04/08/2005

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Explanatory Notes Glossary Abbreviations Analysing Income Distribution (Appendix) Current and Annual Income (Appendix) Equivalised Disposable Household Income (Appendix) Sampling Variability (Appendix) Publication (I-Note)	Capital cities Australia's six State capital city statistical divisions and the Darwin statistical division. For the Australian Capital Territory the estimates relate predominantly to urban areas. Collection District The census Collection District (CD) is the smallest geographic area defined in the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (cat. no. 1216.0). Consumer Price Index (CPI) A general measure of price inflation for the household sector in Australia. Specifically, it provides a measure of changes, over time, in the cost of a constant basket of goods and services acquired by the capital city households in Australia. Couple family with dependent children One family household consisting of a couple with at least one dependent child. The household may also include non-dependent children, other relatives and unrelated individuals. Couple Two people in a registered or de facto marriage, who usually live in the same household. Decile Groupings that result from ranking all households or people in the population in ascending order according to some characteristic such as their household income and then dividing the population into 10 equal groups, each comprising 10% of the estimated population. Dependent children All persons aged under 15 years; and people aged 15–24 years who are full-time students, have a parent in the household and do not have a partner or child of their own in the household. Disposable income Gross income after income tax and the Medicare levy are deducted and family tax benefit paid through the tax system or as a lump sum by Centrelink is added. Income tax and the Medicare levy are imputed based on each person's income and other characteristics as reported in the survey. Family tax benefit is estimated on the basis of reductions in pay-as-you-go tax payments, as reported in the survey, or imputed on the basis of each family's income and composition. Disposable income is sometimes referred to as net income. Employed persons Persons aged 15 years and over who, during the week before the interview: worked one hour or more for pay, profit, commission or payment in kind in a job or business, or on a farm (includes employees, employers and own account workers) worked one hour or more, without pay, in a family business or on a family farm had a job, business or farm but was not at work because of holidays, sickness or other reason. Employee An employed person who, for most of his/her working hours: works for a public or private employer and receives remuneration in wages or salary, or is paid a retainer fee by his/her employer and works on a commission basis, or works for an employer for tips, piece-rates or payment in kind operates his or her own incorporated enterprise with or without hiring employees. Employer A person who operates his or her own unincorporated economic enterprise or engages independently in a profession or trade, and hires one or more employees. Equivalised disposable household income Disposable household income adjusted using an equivalence scale. For a lone person household it is equal to disposable household income. For a household comprising more than one person, it is an indicator of the disposable household income that would need to be received by a lone person household to enjoy the same level of economic wellbeing as the household in question. For further information see Appendix 3. Family Two or more people, one of whom is at least 15 years of age, who are related by blood, marriage (registered or de facto), adoption, step or fostering and who usually live in the same household. A separate family is formed for each married couple, or for each set of parent-child relationships where only one parent is present. Family composition of household Classifies households into three broad groupings based on the number of families present (one family, multiple family and non-family). One family households are further disaggregated according to the type of family (such as couple family or one parent family) and according to whether or not dependent children are present. Non-family households are disaggregated into lone person households and group households. Full-time student A person 15 years or over who is classified as a full-time student by the institution they attend, or considers himself/herself to be a full-time student. Full-time study does not preclude employment. Gini coefficient A summary measure of inequality of income distribution. For further information see Appendix 1. Government pensions and allowances Income support payments from government to persons under social security and related government programs. Included are pensions and allowances received by aged, disabled, unemployed and sick persons, families and children, veterans or their survivors, and study allowances for students. Sometimes referred to as government benefit transfers. All overseas pensions and benefits are included here, although some may not be paid by overseas governments. The one-off payment to seniors paid in 2000–01 and the one-off payments to families and carers paid in 2003–04 are included. Family tax benefit is also regarded as income, although for practical reasons family tax benefit paid through the tax system or as a lump sum by Centrelink is only included under disposable income, and not gross income. Gross income Regular cash receipts before income tax or the Medicare levy are deducted. Group household A household consisting of two or more unrelated people where all people are aged 15 years and over. There are no reported couple relationships, parent-child relationships or other blood relationships in these households. Household A group of related or unrelated people who usually live in the same dwelling and make common provision for food and other essentials of living; or a lone person who makes provision for his or her own food and other essentials of living without combining with any other person. Income Regular and recurring cash receipts including moneys received from wages and salaries, government pensions and allowances, and other regular receipts such as superannuation, workers' compensation, child support, other transfers from other households, scholarships, profit or loss from own unincorporated business or partnership and investment income. Gross income is the sum of the income from all these sources before income tax or the Medicare levy are deducted. Other measures of income are disposable income and equivalised disposable income. Note that child support and other transfers from other households are not deducted from the incomes of the households making the transfers. Income unit One person or a group of related persons within a household, whose command over income is assumed to be shared. Income sharing is assumed to take place within married (registered or de facto) couples, and between parents and dependent children. The income unit was the unit of analysis used in the 1994–95 to 1999–2000 issues of this publication, but more recent issues use the person as the unit of analysis with persons mostly described according to the characteristics of the household to which they belong. Labour force status Classifies all people aged 15 years and over according to whether they were employed, unemployed or not in the labour force. Landlord type For renters, the type of entity to whom rent is paid or with whom the tenure contract or arrangement is made. Renters belong to one of the following categories: state/territory housing authority–where the household pays rent to a state or territory housing authority or trust private landlords–where the household pays rent to a real estate agent or to another person not in the same household other–where the household pays rent to the owner/manager of a caravan park, an employer (including a government authority), a housing cooperative, a community or church group, or any other body not included elsewhere. Lone person household A household consisting of a person living alone. Mean income The total income received by a group of units divided by the number of units in the group. For more detail about household weighted and person weighted means, see Appendix 1. Median income That level of income which divides the units in a group into two equal parts, one half having incomes above the median and the other half having incomes below the median. For more detail about household weighted and person weighted medians, see Appendix 1. Multiple family household A household containing two or more families. Unrelated individuals may also be present. Negative income Income may be negative when a loss accrues to a household as an owner or partner in unincorporated enterprises or rental properties. Losses occur when operating expenses and depreciation are greater than gross receipts. Net worth Net worth is the value of a household's assets less the value of its liabilities. For further information refer to paragraphs 26 to 29 in Explanatory Notes. Non-dependent children All people aged 15 years and over who: do not have a spouse or offspring of their own in the household have a parent in the household are not full-time students aged 15–24 years. Non-family household Consists of unrelated people only. A non-family household can be either a person living alone or a group household. Not in the labour force Persons not in the categories employed or unemployed as defined. One family household A household containing only one family. Unrelated individuals may also be present. One parent family with dependent children A one family household comprising a lone parent with at least one dependent child. The household may also include non-dependent children, other relatives and unrelated individuals. Other one family household A household comprising: one couple with their non-dependent children only one couple, with or without non-dependent children, plus other relatives one couple, with or without non-dependent children or other relatives, plus unrelated individuals a lone parent with his/her non-dependent children, with or without other relatives and unrelated individuals or two or more related individuals where the relationship is not a couple relationship or a parent-child relationship (e.g. two brothers). Other income Income other than wages and salaries, own business or partnership income and government pensions and allowances. This includes income received as a result of ownership of financial assets (interest, dividends), and of non-financial assets (rent, royalties) and other regular receipts from sources such as superannuation, child support, workers' compensation and scholarships. Income from rent is net of operating expenses and depreciation and may be negative when these are greater than gross receipts. Other landlord type Where the household pays rent to the owner/manager of a caravan park, an employer (including a government authority), a housing cooperative, a community or church group, or any other body not included elsewhere. Other tenure type A household which is not an owner, a purchaser or a renter. Own account worker A person who operates his or her own unincorporated economic enterprise or engages independently in a profession or trade and hires no employees. Own unincorporated business income The profit/loss that accrues to persons as owners of, or partners in, unincorporated enterprises. Profit/loss consists of the value of gross output of the enterprise after the deduction of operating expenses (including depreciation). Losses occur when operating expenses are greater than gross receipts and are treated as negative income. Owner (of dwelling) A household in which at least one member owns the dwelling in which it usually resides. Owners are divided into two classifications - owners without a mortgage and owners with a mortgage. If there is any outstanding mortgage or loan secured against the dwelling the household is an owner with a mortgage. If there is no mortgage or loan secured against the dwelling the household is an owner without a mortgage. Percentile When all households or people in the population are ranked from the lowest to the highest on the basis of some characteristic such as their household income, they can then be divided into equal sized groups. Division into 100 groups gives percentiles. The highest value of the characteristic in the tenth percentile is denoted P10. The median or the top of the 50th percentile is denoted P50. P20, P80 and P90 denote the highest values in the 20th, 80th and 90th percentiles. Ratios of values at the top of selected percentiles, such as P90/P10, are often called percentile ratios. Principal source of income That source from which the most positive income is received. If total income is nil or negative the principal source is undefined. Private income Regular, recurring receipts from private organisations, including superannuation, regular workers' compensation, income from annuities, interest, dividends, royalties, income from rental properties, scholarships and child support. Quintiles Groupings that result from ranking all households or people in the population in ascending order according to some characteristic such as their household income and then dividing the population into five equal groups, each comprising 20% of the estimated population. Ratio of household incomes at top of selected income percentiles See percentile. Reference person The reference person for each household is chosen by applying, to all household members aged 15 years and over, the selection criteria below, in the order listed, until a single appropriate reference person is identified: one of the partners in a registered or de facto marriage, with dependent children one of the partners in a registered or de facto marriage, without dependent children a lone parent with dependent children the person with the highest income the eldest person. For example, in a household containing a lone parent with a non-dependent child, the one with the higher income will become the reference person. However, if both individuals have the same income, the elder will become the reference person. Relative standard error (RSE) The standard error expressed as a percentage of the estimate for which it was calculated. It is a measure which is independent of both the size of the sample, and the unit of measurement and as a result, can be used to compare the reliability of different estimates. The smaller an estimate's RSE, the more likely it is that the estimate is a good proxy for that which would have been obtained if the whole population had been surveyed. Renter A household which pays rent to reside in the dwelling. See further classification by Landlord type. Selected dwelling The private dwelling selected in the sample for the survey. See the Explanatory Notes for details of types of dwellings and how they are selected for this survey. Significant person Significant persons are defined as follows: all members of a lone person or couple only household all parents in a couple with children household or a single parent household the persons aged 15 years or over in an unrelated persons household where one person is aged 15 years or over and the other members of the household are less than 15 years old 50% of the persons aged 15 years and over in all other households. Standard error A measure of the likely difference between estimates obtained in a sample survey and estimates which would have been obtained if the whole population had been surveyed. The magnitude of the standard error associated with any survey is a function of sample design, sample size and population variability. Statistical division The largest spatial units of the main structure of the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (cat. no. 1216.0). Tenure type The nature of a household's legal right to occupy the dwelling in which the household members usually reside. Tenure is determined according to whether the household owns the dwelling outright, owns the dwelling but has a mortgage or loan secured against it, is paying rent to live in the dwelling or has some other arrangement to occupy the dwelling. Unemployed persons Persons aged 15 years and over who were not employed during the week before the interview and had actively looked for full-time or part-time work at any time in the four weeks before the interview and: were available for work in the week before the interview, or would have been available except for temporary illness (i.e. lasting for less than four weeks before the interview), or were waiting to start a new job within four weeks from the interview and would have started in the week before the interview if the job had been available then, or were waiting to be called back to a full-time or part-time job from which they had been stood down without pay for less than four weeks before the interview for reasons other than bad weather or plant breakdown. Unincorporated business A business in which the owner(s) and the business are the same legal entity, so that, for example, the owner(s) are personally liable for any business debts that are incurred. Wages and salaries The gross cash income received as a return to labour from an employer or from a person's own incorporated business. Wealth See Net worth. Document Selection These documents will be presented in a new window.