For a person to be in relative income poverty it means they are living in a household where the total household income from all sources is less than 60 per cent of the average UK household income (as given by the median).

1. Relative income poverty
Family characteristics

2. Lone parent households were the family type most
likely to be in relative income poverty
• 46 per cent of people in lone parent households and 31 per cent of
people in single female households with no children lived in relative
income poverty after housing costs in the period 2014-15 to 2016-17 (an
average over three financial years).
• In comparison, 15 per cent of people living in couple households without
children were in relative income poverty.

3. Percentage of people in each family type in Wales who were living
in relative income poverty (after housing costs), 2014-15 to 2016-
17
15
18
19
22
24
30
31
46
0 10 20 30 40 50
Couple without children
Single male pensioner
Pensioner couple
Couple with children
Single female pensioner
Single male - no children
Single female - no children
Lone parent
Source: Welsh Government Analysis of HBAI, Family Resources Survey, DWP

4. • In the past, most people living in relative income poverty were living in
households with children.
• However, the pattern is now less clear with a similar proportion of those
living in relative income poverty living in households with children and
without children.
Source: Welsh Government Analysis of HBAI, Family Resources Survey, DWP
The people in Wales who were living in relative income poverty (after housing costs),
by family type, 2014-15 to 2016-17
19%
47%
34%
Pensioner Families
Families with Children
Families without Children
Note Families here include single people
What type of families live in poverty?

5. Almost half of all children living in lone parent
families were living in relative income poverty
• 47 per cent of children who lived in lone parent families lived in relative
income poverty in the latest period, 2014-15 to 2016-17. This figure has not
changed from the last period ending 2015-16 after steadily increasing since
2010-11 to 2012-13.
• Overall, children in couple households were half as likely to be in relative
income poverty as those in lone parent households, this seemed to be
wholly driven by work status. That is, the risk of relative income poverty
for children in workless couple households was very similar to those in
workless lone parent households, at around two thirds*.
*Although the most recent figure is suppressed due to a small sample size, this is the trend seen in
previous years.

6. Children that lived in households where the youngest child was
aged 0 to 4 accounted for just under half of all children that
were in relative income poverty
80,000; 44%
50,000; 28%
40,000; 22%
10,000; 6%
Age 0-4
Age 5-10
Age 11-15
Age 16-19
Source: Welsh Government Analysis of HBAI, Family Resources Survey, DWP
The children in Wales who were living in relative income poverty
(after housing costs), by age of youngest child in household,
2013-14 to 2016-17

7. In recent years the difference in likelihood of being
in relative income poverty between larger and
smaller families has reduced substantially
• In the most recent period (2014-15 to 2016-17), the likelihood of being in
relative income poverty was similar for those children who lived in a
household with one, two and three children living in them.
• However, in previous time periods children in larger families (three or more)
were more likely to be in relative income poverty and the gap between these
figures used to be much larger.
• In the period 2011-12 to 2013-14, 48 per cent of children from households
with three or more children were living in relative income poverty compared
with 28 and 22 per cent of children living in relative income poverty from
households with one or two children respectively.

8. Percentage of children in each family size in Wales who were
living in relative income poverty (after housing costs),
three-financial-year averages
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
2007 to
2010
2008 to
2011
2009 to
2012
2010 to
2013
2011 to
2014
2012 to
2015
2013 to
2016
2014 to
2017
One child
Two children
Three or more children
Source: Welsh Government Analysis of HBAI, Family Resources Survey, DWP