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Courtney's link

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The Living Standards in the UK questionnaire covers a wide range of individual and household living standards. You can download the questionnaire itself and the questionnaire annotated with the top level results below.

The questionnaire is in two sections: the first section covers matters shared by the whole household and is answered by the main household respondent; the second section covers questions specific to individuals that are answered separately by every member of the household. The individual section includes a self-completion section where sensitive questions are answered privately.

The questionnaire is designed on the basis that the respondents taking part were to be drawn from those who took part in the 2010/2011 Family Resources Surveys (FRS) in Britain and Northern Ireland, meaning that a large number of questions on household circumstances and finance could be brought forward from the FRS survey and checked for change. Following up the FRS survey has the advantage that changes since the respondents were last interviewed can be tracked.

Household questions

Changes in the household checks the basic details about the household and records any changes since the FRS interview, i.e. have there been changes to the number of household members, their names, gender, age, marital status, relationships and Household Reference Person status.

Children outside the household collects details of relationships with those not in the household.

Additional demographics collects information on main language, ethnicity, religion and passports held.

Housing collects details on type of accommodation and asks questions where the respondent has to comment on the standard of their accommodation.

Fuel poverty investigates the extent to which the respondent can keep their home warm.

Area deprivation aims to assess respondents' views of their neighbourhood.

Local services looks at the use and adequacy of local services, both public and private.

Finance and debts asks respondents about problems in paying their bills, the causes of those problems, borrowing and from whom.

Gifts asks about other sources of support that affect the household's standard of living.

Education and parenting asks about satisfaction with schooling, involvement with schooling and other aspects of parenting.

Individual questions

Employment and working conditions provides additional details (to the FRS) on the respondents' work and working conditions.

Health and disability asks a range of questions about the respondents' health and how this affects their lives.

Time investigates the extent to which respondents feel pressured for time.

Social networks and support is designed to measure the amount of social support available to respondents and the frequency with which they see or speak to family and friends.

Necessities is a core section in the survey and relates back to the Necessities of Life survey in that the same range of items and activities for adults and children are covered. In these questions, respondents are asked about a range of items: which they have; which they don't have and don't want; and which they don't have because they can't afford it. Respondents are also asked about a range of activities: which they do; which they don't do and don't want to do; which they don't do because they can't afford to; and which they don't do for other reasons. Respondents are asked about adult and children items. Questions about household items are asked only of the main household respondent; child items are asked of the main carer; all other items and activities are asked of every member of the household. Respondents are also asked about the quality of their goods and restrictions on purchases.

Poverty over time asks respondents about changes in their living standards and their feelings about the adequacy of their living standards.

Subjective poverty aims to ascertain respondents' views on the level of income that is needed to keep people above the poverty line.

Satisfaction asks about satisfaction with a range of aspects of the respondent's life.

Harm, crime and criminalisation asks about a range of harms that can damage a person's quality of life; not just criminal harms but also financial harms, physical injury and abuse and harassment.

Critical life events asks about major events in the respondent's life.

Social and political engagement asks about civic and community involvement, local and national.

Self-completion section includes questions on general health (including mental health issues), support likely to be received from others in time of need, sexual identity, finances and spending decisions within the household, living costs and whether respondents have had to cut back on essential items to keep down living costs, violence and sexual harms, and problems children might have encountered at school.

The Living Standards survey was carried out between March and July 2012 by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) in Britain and by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) in Northern Ireland. The survey re-interviewed respondents to the 2010/11 Family Resources Survey (FRS) who had provided permission to be contacted again.

The Living Standards survey was carried out between March and December 2012 by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) in Britain and by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) in Northern Ireland. The survey re-interviewed respondents to the 2010/11 Family Resources Survey (FRS) who said they could be contacted again. Every adult living at each address was interviewed.

The sampling frame was designed so as to give a minimum sample in Britain of 4,220 households (including 1,000 households in Scotland overall and an additional 220 households in rural Scotland) and a minimum sample in Northern Ireland of 1,000 households. The final sample size achieved was 5,193 households (4,205 in Britain and 988 in Northern Ireland) in which 12,097 people were living (9,786 in Britain and 2,311 in Northern Ireland).

The survey organisations were required to interview all members of the household currently living at that address. This is a major improvement on past PSE surveys and means that this research project will be able to throw light on intra-household poverty.

The sample frame oversamples those on low incomes and from ethnic minorities to ensure that there are sufficient cases to permit sub-group analyses. For further details see Living standards in the UK survey sampling frame.

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Living Standards 2012 questionnaire: overview

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The Living Standards in the UK questionnaire covers a wide range of individual and household living standards. You can download the questionnaire itself and the questionnaire annotated with the top level results below.

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Harry's link - could be used to support structural theories of poverty?

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The squeeze on public finances since 2010 is linked to nearly 120,000 excess deaths in England, with the over 60s and care home residents bearing the brunt, reveals the first study of its kind, published in the online journal

The critical factor in these figures may be changes in nurse numbers, say the researchers, who warn that there could be an additional toll of up to 100 deaths every day from now on in.

They estimate that an annual cash injection of £6.3 billion would be needed to close this 'mortality gap.'

Between 2010 and 2014, the NHS in England has only had a real term annual increase in government funding of 1.3 per cent, despite rising patient demand and healthcare costs.

And real term spend on social care has fallen by 1.19 per cent every year during the same period, despite a significant projected increase in the numbers of over 85s-those most likely to need social care-from 1.6 million in 2015 to 1.8 million in 2020, say the researchers.

While this mismatch in supply and demand and the funding gaps facing services have been well quantified, the potential impact on population health remains unclear.

To try and address this, the researchers mined nationally available data on population deaths, life expectancy, and potential years of life lost. And they collected data on health and social care resources and finances from 2001 to 2014.

They then compared actual death rates for 2011 to 2014 with those that would be expected, based on trends before spending cuts came into play, and taking account of national and economic factors, such as unemployment rates and pensions.

They categorised their findings by age, place of death, and the local government area in which the death occurred, and used these to estimate future death rates up to 2020.

Finally, they looked at the health and social care funds that would be needed in addition to those already budgeted by the government as of 2016 to close any gaps in death rates.

Analysis of the data showed that between 2001 and 2010, deaths in England fell by an average of 0.77 per cent every year, but rose by an average of 0.87 per cent every year between 2011 and 2014.

The spending restraints were associated with 45,368 excess deaths between 2010 and 2014 compared with equivalent trends before 2010.

Most of these deaths were among the over 60s and care home residents. And every £10 drop in spend per head on social care was associated with five extra care home deaths per 100,000 of the population, the analysis showed.

These associations remained after further detailed analysis and taking account of global and national economic factors.

Changes in the numbers of hospital and community nurses were the most salient factors in the associations found between spend and care home deaths. From 2001 to 2010 nurse numbers rose by an average of 1.61% every year, but from 2010 to 2014 rose by just 0.07%-20 times lower than in the previous decade.

On the basis of the trends between 2009 and 2014, the researchers estimate that an extra 152,141 people could die between 2015 and 2020, equivalent to nearly 100 extra deaths every day.

The funds needed to close this 'mortality gap' would be £6.3 billion every year, or a total of £25.3 billion, they calculate.

This is an observational study, so no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect, but the findings back up other research in the field, say the researchers.

The study has several policy implications, as it indicates that lower spend on health and social care is "associated with a substantial mortality gap," they explain.

Universal coverage is undoubtedly important, they write, but it has to be properly financed if it is going to improve health. And the excess deaths among older people and care home residents make a strong case for targeted interventions, they add.

"This includes funding increases in social care, in addition to maintenance or rises in nursing numbers aligned with demand," they conclude.

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Health and social care spending cuts linked to 120,000 excess deaths in England | BMJ Open

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Over 60s and care home residents most at risk; changes in nurse numbers may be key The squeeze on public finances since 2010 is linked to nearly 120,000 excess deaths in England, with the over 60s and care home residents bearing the brunt, reveals the first study of its kind, published in the online journal BMJ [...]Read More...