6554.0 - Household Wealth and Wealth Distribution, Australia, 2011–12
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 21/08/2013
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GLOSSARY
Employee An employed person who, for most of his/her working hours:
Employer A person who operates his or her own unincorporated business or engages independently in a profession or trade, and hires one or more employees. Equivalisation Can be applied to disposable household income and net worth to create equivalised disposable household income and equivalised household net worth. Adjustments are made using an equivalence scale. Equivalence measures are used in some analyses to enable comparison of the relative economic wellbeing of households of different size and composition. For a lone person household, the equivalised value is equal to the original value, or equal to zero if the original value was negative. For a household comprising more than one person, it is an indicator of the level that would be needed by a lone person household to enjoy the same level of economic wellbeing as the household in question. For further information on the process of equivalisation, see Appendix 3 in Household Income and Income Distribution, Australia, 2011-12 (cat. no. 6523.0). 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. Financial assets An asset whose value arises not from its physical existence (as would a building, piece of land, or capital equipment) but from a contractual relationship. Financial assets are mostly financial claims (with the exception of shares and value of own unincorporated business). Financial claims entitle the owner to receive a payment, or a series of payments, from an institutional unit to which the owner has provided funds. Examples include accounts held with financial institutions (including offset accounts), ownership of an incorporated business, shares, debentures and bonds, trusts, superannuation funds, and loans to other persons. 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. 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. All overseas pensions and benefits are included here, although some may not be paid by overseas governments. Family Tax Benefit, Baby Bonus and Child Disability Assistance Payment paid to recipients of Carer Allowance are also included in government pensions and allowances. Gross income Income from all sources, whether monetary or in kind, before income tax, the Medicare levy and the Medicare levy surcharge are deducted. Group household See Non-family households. Household A person living alone or a group of related or unrelated people who usually live in the same private dwelling. Income Income consists of all current receipts, whether monetary or in kind, that are received by the household or by individual members of the household, and which are available for, or intended to support, current consumption. Income includes receipts from:
Gross income is the sum of the income from all these sources before income tax, the Medicare levy and the Medicare levy surcharge are deducted. Other measures of income are Disposable income and Equivalised disposable household income. Note that child support and other transfers from other households are not deducted from the incomes of the households making the transfers. Incorporated business An incorporated business is a company that has a registered business name with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) and a legal status which is separate to that of the individual owners of the business. Investment loan A loan taken out for the purpose of financing investment, excluding loans for business purposes and rental property. 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 are classified to one of the following categories:
Liability A liability is an obligation which requires one unit (the debtor) to make a payment or a series of payments to the other unit (the creditor) in certain circumstances specified in a contract between them. Loan A form of liability that is created when creditors lend funds directly to debtors. Examples include an overdraft from a bank, money lent by a financial institution with a mortgage over a property as collateral, and personal loans. Loans for owner occupied dwelling Principal outstanding on loans used to purchase, build, alter, or make additions to the selected dwelling. Includes money borrowed for a deposit on the selected dwelling, and bridging finance taken out until such time as a loan or mortgage is obtained or the dwelling is bought outright. Where only a proportion of a loan is used for the owner occupied dwelling, only that proportion of the principal outstanding is included. Lone person household See Non-family households. Main source of income The income source from which the most positive income is received. If total income is nil or negative the main source is undefined. As there are several possible sources, the main source may account for less than 50% of gross income. Mean income The total income received by a group of units divided by the number of units in the group. Mean net worth The total or aggregate net worth of a group of units, divided by the number of units in the group. In this publication, the most common unit is the household. 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. Median net worth That level of net worth which divides the units in a group into two equal parts, one half having net worth above the median and the other half having net worth below the median. Medicare levy Medicare is Australia’s universal health care system. The Medicare levy is a specific tax, based on individual income, intended to assist in the funding of this system. Medicare levy surcharge The Medicare levy surcharge is a levy, or an additional tax, on Australian taxpayers who do not have an appropriate level of private hospital insurance and who are earning more than the specified income threshold. 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 businesses, rental properties or other investment income. Losses occur when operating expenses and depreciation are greater than gross receipts. Negative net worth Net worth may be negative when household liabilities exceed household assets. Net worth Net worth is the value of a household's assets less the value of its liabilities. Net worth may be negative when household liabilities exceed household assets. For further information refer to the Explanatory Notes. Non-dependent children All people aged 15 years and over who:
Non-family household A household that consists of unrelated persons only. Non-family households are classified to one of the following categories:
Non-financial assets Non-financial assets are all assets other than financial assets. Examples include residential and non-residential property, household contents, and vehicles. Not in the labour force Persons not in the categories employed or unemployed as defined. Offset account An account with a financial institution that is linked to a home loan. The balance in offset accounts reduces the interest charged on the loan. One family household One family households are classified to one of the following categories:
One parent family with dependent children See One family households. Other income Income other than wages and salaries, own unincorporated business 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 current 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 one family household See One family households. Other property loans Principal outstanding on loans used to purchase, build, alter, or make additions to property rented out, loans taken out by people in rental properties who are buying or building a home somewhere else, and loans taken out for alterations and additions to other property. Where only a proportion of a loan is used for the property, only that proportion of the principal outstanding is included. Other tenure type A household which is not an owner (with or without a mortgage), or a renter. Includes rent free. Own unincorporated business income The profit/loss that accrues to persons as owners of, or partners in, unincorporated businesses. Profit/loss consists of the value of gross output of the business 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 the household members usually reside. Owners are divided into two categories - 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 or net worth, they can then be divided into equal sized groups. Division into 100 equal 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. See Appendix 1 for information on the use of percentile ratios in analysing distributions. Percentile ratios Percentile ratios summarise the relative distance between two points in a distribution. To illustrate the full spread of the income distribution, the percentile ratio needs to refer to points near the extremes of the distribution, for example, the P90/P10 ratio. The P80/P20 ratio better illustrates the magnitude of the range within which the income or net worth of the majority of households falls. The P80/P50 and P50/P20 ratios focus on comparing the ends of the income or wealth distribution with the midpoint. Private income Current receipts from private organisations, including wages and salaries, income from own business, superannuation, workers' compensation, income from annuities, interest, dividends, royalties, income from rental properties, scholarships and child support. Private trusts Trusts other than public unit trusts. These include private unit trusts, fixed unit trusts, family trusts, charitable trusts and testamentary trusts. Property All residential and non-residential properties owned by persons in the household, excluding properties owned by the respondent's business. Public unit trusts A trust which issues units to the general public within Australia for the purpose of investing the pooled monies. A public unit trust must have registered a prospectus with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and be governed by a trust deed between its management company and a trustee company. The units may or may not be listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Includes property trusts, equity trusts, mortgage trusts, cash management trusts and public trading trusts. Quintiles Groupings that result from ranking all households or persons in the population in ascending order according to some characteristic such as their household net worth and then dividing the population into five equal groups, each comprising 20% of the estimated population. Ratio of values at the top of selected percentiles See Percentiles 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:
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. For further information see Appendix 2. Renter A household which pays rent to reside in the dwelling. See further classification by Landlord type. Salary sacrifice An arrangement under which an employee agrees contractually to forgo part of their remuneration, which the employee would otherwise receive as wages and salaries, in return for the employer or someone associated with the employer providing benefits of a similar value. Selected dwelling The private dwelling selected in the sample for the survey. Shares A share is a contract between the issuing company and the owner of the share which gives the latter an interest in the management of the corporation and the right to participate in profits. In this publication the "value of shares" excludes the value of shares held by individuals in their own incorporated business. Such shares are included in "value of own incorporated business". Significant person Significant persons are defined as follows:
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. For further information see Appendix 2. Study loans Study loans are debts incurred under Higher Education Loans Programmes (HELP), the government education payment scheme, and other government higher education schemes. They also include loans incurred prior to 2005 under the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) and the Student Financial Supplement Scheme (SFSS). A feature of these loans is that the obligation to repay them only exists when the student's income exceeds a threshold. The debt is also extinguished upon death. Superannuation A long-term savings arrangement which operates primarily to provide income for retirement. 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. Trusts Any type of managed fund which involves the pooling of investors' money in order for a trustee or professional manager to administer that fund. See also Public unit trusts and Private trusts. Unemployed 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:
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. Value of dwelling The estimated value of the dwelling and its land, as estimated and reported by the respondent. The data are only collected for owners. Vehicles Vehicles include registered and unregistered vehicles used for private purposes including cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, caravans, aircraft, boats and bicycles. Vehicle loans Principal outstanding on loans used to purchase motor vehicles. Where only a proportion of a loan is used to purchase a vehicle, only that proportion of the principal outstanding is included. Wages and salaries An employee's total remuneration, whether monetary or in kind, received as a return to labour from an employer or from a person's own incorporated business. It comprises wages and salaries, bonuses, amounts salary sacrificed, non-cash benefits such as the use of motor vehicles and subsidised housing, and termination payments. Wealth See Net worth. Document Selection These documents will be presented in a new window.
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