Work and Worklessness among Households in Scotland 2009

Annex B: Concepts and Definitions

1. A working-age household is a household that includes at least one woman aged 16 to 59 or one man aged 16 to 64.
2. A household is defined as a single person, or a group of people living at the same address who have the address as their only or main residence and either share one main meal a day or share living accommodation (or both).
3. A working household is one where all individuals aged 16 and over are in employment.
4. A mixed household is one where at least one person aged 16 and over is in employment and at least one other is either unemployed or inactive.
5. A workless household is a household that includes at least one person of working-age, where no-one aged 16 or over is in employment.
6. Children refer to all children under 16.
7. Dependent children are children aged under 16 and those aged 16 to 18 who have never-married and in full-time education.
8. The household reference person is the householder, i.e. the person who:

• owns the household accommodation, or
• is legally responsible for the rent of the accommodation, or
• has the household accommodation as part of their job, or
• has the household accommodation by virtue of some relationship to the owner who is not a member of the household.

If there are joint householders the household reference person will be the one with the higher income. If the income is the same, then the eldest householder is taken.