Household Finance and Consumption Survey 2020

Care should be taken when comparing income data in the HFCS with published income results from the SILC, (Survey on Income and Living Conditions), an annual household survey conducted by the CSO.

The SILC is the official source of income for households and individuals and also provides several key national poverty indicators, such as the at risk of poverty rate, the consistent poverty rate, and rates of enforced deprivation.

The definition of gross income differs between the HFCS and SILC. For example, employers’ social insurance contributions are included in the SILC definition of gross income and these contributions are not included in the HFCS gross income definition. The income reference periods for both surveys also differ. The income reference period for SILC year T is the calendar year T-1. This means that SILC 2020 income results were calculated from 2019 calendar income. The income reference period for the 2020 HFCS was the 12-month period immediately preceding the surveyed households’ dates of interview. As the data collection phase of the 2020 HFSC was from July 2020 to January 2021, the HFCS income reference period covers income from 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Mean and median annual gross household income values as measured in the HFCS were lower than the comparable SILC estimates (3.3% and 3.6% lower respectively). See Table 6.1.