This document discusses various definitions related to households and census data collection in the UK. It begins by explaining the census definition of a household, which is a group of people living at the same address who share facilities. It then discusses how the definition has varied slightly over time. The document also defines related terms like household spaces, dwellings, and communal establishments. It notes that while the census provides household definitions, they are not entirely stable or unambiguous. The document raises questions about how key household statistics could be derived without relying on census household definitions.

1. Are you the householder?
David Martin
Deputy Director, UK Data Service
University of Southampton
Addresses vs households: who needs
household statistics?
13 July 2017

2. Are you the householder?
• ONS advice “Before you start”
• What is the census household definition?
• The importance of having something else in common
• Question time: households, spaces, dwellings and
related matters
• Household questions, derived variables and what we use
them for
• A new hierarchy of entities
• Matters for discussion

3. 3

4. 4
Photos:DavidMartin

5. 5
What is the census household
definition? One person living
alone or…
https://census.ukdataservice.ac.uk/use-data/censuses/forms

6. 6
What is the census household
definition? One person living
alone or…
a group of people (not necessarily
related) living at the same address who
share cooking facilities and share a
living room or sitting room or dining area
2011
http://www.stat.fi/til/asuolo/kas_en.html

7. 7
What is the census household
definition? One person living
alone or…
a group of people (not necessarily
related) living at the same address who
share cooking facilities and share a
living room or sitting room or dining area
2011
a group of people (not necessarily related)
living at the same address with common
housekeeping - sharing either a living room
or sitting room, or at least one meal a day
2001
https://census.ukdataservice.ac.uk/use-data/censuses/forms

8. 8
What is the census household
definition? One person living
alone or…
a group of people (not necessarily
related) living at the same address who
share cooking facilities and share a
living room or sitting room or dining area
2011
a group of people (not necessarily related)
living at the same address with common
housekeeping - sharing either a living room
or sitting room, or at least one meal a day
2001
1991
A group of people not necessarily related,
living at the same address with common
housekeeping, that is, sharing at least one
meal a day or sharing a living room or
sitting room
https://census.ukdataservice.ac.uk/use-data/censuses/forms

9. 9
What is the census household
definition? One person living
alone or…
a group of people (not necessarily
related) living at the same address who
share cooking facilities and share a
living room or sitting room or dining area
2011
a group of people (not necessarily related)
living at the same address with common
housekeeping - sharing either a living room
or sitting room, or at least one meal a day
2001
1991
A group of people not necessarily related,
living at the same address with common
housekeeping, that is, sharing at least one
meal a day or sharing a living room or
sitting room
1981,
1971
A group of persons (not necessarily
related) living at the same address with
common housekeeping
https://census.ukdataservice.ac.uk/use-data/censuses/forms

10. 10
What is the census household
definition? One person living
alone or…
A group of people (not necessarily
related) living at the same address
1971-2011
With (variously) something
else in common!

11. • This much we should be able to do pretty well from
admin data, so it all comes down to which
“something else in common” we need
• (Results currently moderated by respondents’
interpretation of the secondary guidance phrase) 11
What is the census household
definition? One person living
alone or…
A group of people (not necessarily
related) living at the same address

12. Question time 1
• Q. What is the term for
accommodation used or
available for use by an
individual household?
• A. A household space
• Vacant household
spaces and household
spaces used as second
addresses are also
classified as household
spaces
Photo:DavidMartin

13. Question time 2
• Q. What is the term for
a unit of
accommodation which
may comprise one or
more household
spaces?
• A. A dwelling
• A dwelling may be
classified as shared or
unshared
Photo:DavidMartin

14. Question time 3
• Q. Are all units in
sheltered
accommodation where
half or more of the units
possess their own
facilities for cooking
classified as
households?
• A. Yes!
• If less than half the
units possess their own
cooking facilities,
classified as Communal
Establishments
Photo:DavidMartin

15. Question time 4
• Q. Are university owned
student houses that
were difficult to identify
and not clearly located
with other student
residences classified as
households?
• A. Yes!
• Accommodation
provided solely for
students (during term-
time) otherwise
classified as Communal
Establishments
Photo:DavidMartin

16. 16

17. Household questions, derived variables and
what we use them for
• Usual residents and visitors >> vacancy, second homes
• Family (or not) relationships between household
members >> household formation and dissolution,
parenting, kinship, “hidden households”
• Accommodation type, number of rooms* >> housing
stock, overcrowding, deprivation
• Central heating >> household amenities, deprivation
• Tenure >> home ownership, wealth
• Availability of cars or vans
*If derived from admin data, some of these relate to
addresses, not households

18. (Non-exhaustive) hierarchy of census
entities
Persons
Families
Households
Household spaces
Dwellings
Addresses
Communal Establishments

19. Potential hierarchy of administrative entities
Persons
New construct A
Addresses
Communal EstablishmentsNew construct B
New construct C

20. Possible new construct A: “household-
dwelling unit” (Statistics Finland)
• Consists of the permanent occupants of a dwelling
• Related concepts include: building, dwelling,
consumption unit, residential home, structure of
household-dwelling unit
• Concept adopted in 1980 census. In earlier years the
concept of household was used, which consisted of
family members and other persons living together who
made common provision for food
http://www.stat.fi/til/asuolo/kas_en.html

21. Matters for discussion
• We need to admit that although census is great, it offers
neither a stable nor unambiguous household definition
• The most consistent element is people living at the same
address, which we can probably still estimate
• What other “things in common” really matter and could
they be derived from admin data?
• Shared electricity meter?
• Common wheelie bin?
• Which are the key household statistics and how would
we obtain them without census households?
• Consequences for definitions of dwelling, communal
establishment, etc. 21

22. Questions
Photo:DavidMartin
Questions, discussion
D.J.Martin@soton.ac.uk

23. Household spaces
A household space is the accommodation used or available
for use by an individual household. Household spaces are
identified separately in census results as those with at least
one usual resident, and those that do not have any usual
residents.
• A household space with no usual residents may still be used by
short-term residents, visitors who were present on census night, or a
combination of short-term residents and visitors.
• Vacant household spaces and household spaces that are used as
second addresses are also classified in census results as household
spaces with no usual residents.
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20160105160709/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/census-
data/2011-census-data/2011-first-release/2011-census-definitions/2011-census-glossary.pdf

24. Dwellings
A dwelling is a unit of accommodation which may comprise
one or more household spaces (a household space is the
accommodation used or available for use by an individual
household).
A dwelling may be classified as shared or unshared. A dwelling is
shared if:
• the household spaces it contains have the accommodation type
“part of a converted or shared house”,
• not all of the rooms (including kitchen, bathroom and toilet, if any)
are behind a door that only that household can use, and
• there is at least one other such household space at the same
address with which it can be combined to form the shared dwelling.
Dwellings that do not meet these conditions are unshared dwellings.
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20160105160709/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/census-
data/2011-census-data/2011-first-release/2011-census-definitions/2011-census-glossary.pdf

25. Communal establishments
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20160105160709/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/census-
data/2011-census-data/2011-first-release/2011-census-definitions/2011-census-glossary.pdf
A communal establishment is an establishment providing
managed residential accommodation; “managed” in this context
means full-time or part-time supervision of the accommodation.
Types of communal establishment include:
• Sheltered accommodation units where fewer than 50 per cent of the
units… have their own cooking facilities… If half or more possess
their own facilities for cooking (regardless of use) all units in the
whole establishment are treated as separate households
• Small hotels, guest houses, bed & breakfasts and inns and pubs
with…
• All accommodation provided solely for students (during term-time)…
(University owned student houses that were difficult to identify and
not clearly located with other student residences are treated as
households, and houses rented to students by private landlords are
also treated as households)…
• Accommodation available only to nurses…

26. Houses in multiple occupation
Your home is a house in multiple occupation (HMO) if both of the
following apply:
• at least 3 tenants live there, forming more than 1 household
• you share toilet, bathroom or kitchen facilities with other tenants
Your home is a large HMO if all of the following apply:
• it’s at least 3 storeys high
• at least 5 tenants live there, forming more than 1 household
• you share toilet, bathroom or kitchen facilities with other tenants
A household is either a single person or members of the same family
who live together. A family includes people who are:
• married or living together - including people in same-sex
relationships
• relatives or half-relatives, for example grandparents, aunts, uncles,
siblings
• step-parents and step-children
https://www.gov.uk/house-in-multiple-occupation