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ONS is considering whether elements of these methods could add value to the experimental admin-based income statistics (ABIS). ABIS are part of a programme of feasibility research and development that aims to provide more frequent, relevant and timely statistics that will better meet users’ needs to understand the population and how it changes. They are produced using data from HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Pay As You Earn (PAYE), Self-Assessment and the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) benefit systems. The outputs consist of percentiles of gross and net income for individuals and households at Lower Layer Super Output Area level. The outputs for household income refer to income at an address which is different to the traditional household definition used for the model-based statistics. The differences between these household definitions are discussed in the Occupied address research output. As the admin-based income statistics are still under development, they do not currently capture all required components of income, meaning the income measures and coverage are incomplete. As such they have limited use for decision-making at this time.  For further information see the latest release Admin-based income, England and Wales.

 SAE work within the organisation

The output production teams in ONS have topic area expertise and run the estimation for new publications.  The Small Area Estimation (SAE) expert group in the Methodology and Quality Division (MQD) of ONS has a long-standing experience in Small Area Estimation and the model development for income. The SAE expert group provides a formal quality assurance prior to the publication of new estimates covering model fitting, model performance and the quality of the estimates obtained. This quality assurance together with user feedback on the estimates builds evidence of the fitness for purpose of the outputs and is embedded in their classification as National Statistics. 

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