Data on Households where Spending Exceeds Income

Mr Yee Jenn Jong asked the Minister for Trade and Industry for households where spending exceeds income (a) whether there is data on the types of income sources that these households use to pay for their expenses; and (b) if the Department of Statistics plans to study the spending and income patterns of these households in more detail and to release further data on this.

Based on findings from the Household Expenditure Survey (HES) 2012/13, the average monthly expenditure of households in the lowest income quintile exceeded their regular income by $210. About a quarter of these households were retiree households who had a bigger spending gap than non-retiree households.

These households derive around 61% of their regular income from employment, 12% from business, and 27% from non-work sources, such as investments, regular Government transfers and contributions from relatives and friends. Households that are spending beyond their regular income may be financing their excess expenditure through irregular receipts such as proceeds from the sale of properties, capital gains on investment, ad hoc Government transfers and irregular contributions from relatives and friends, or a drawdown on their savings.

The Department of Statistics (DOS) does not have further data to analyse the breakdown as income receipts that are non-recurrent in nature or arise from a reduction in net worth are not captured by the HES. The focus of the HES is on regular sources of income. This is in accordance with guidelines set out by the International Labour Organisation, the UN's System of National Accounts, as well as practices of other national statistical offices

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such as those in Australia and Canada.

DOS has released detailed statistics and analyses on the monthly expenditure and regular income of households by income quintiles, as well as retiree households in the HES 2012/13 publication. Interested users can download the publication from DOS' website.