The UK Data Archive

The archive consists of data from four sources: the British Household Panel
Survey (BHPS), the Expenditure and Food Survey (formerly the Food and
Expenditure Survey, the FES), the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Survey
of Personal Incomes (SPI).
Access to the microdata in any of these datasets is restricted to registered
users. Researchers wishing to use the data must register a project with the
UK data archive at http://www.esds.ac.uk/aandp/access/access.asp and register use of dataset. When access has been granted users can then write to
me, Ben Etheridge at ben_e@ifs.org.uk; I can then send the cleaned datasets
used in this project. In practice, access should be a formality for academic
researchers.
The rest of the archive contains all the stata and matlab codes and documentation needed to process the data and reproduce results used in the paper.
each

Details of Each Dataset

BHPS
Data and documentation for the main BHPS dataset can be downloaded from
the UK data archive. Derived net household income data can be downloaded
here (code SN3909). The codes supplied can be applied to the raw, downloaded
data or researchers can e-mail me to obtain the compiled ready-to-use dataset,
panellong.dta. We advise the latter route.
Readme_BHPS.txt in the BHPS folder contains more information on running the codes once the raw/compiled data have been obtained.
Contents of Compiled Dataset - panellong.dta:

obs: 132,309
vars: 53
size: 22,624,839
storage display
variable name type format value label
1

variable label

hid
pno
eaage
jbhas
jbsoc
jbsic
jbsemp
jbhrs
jshrs
jbstat
race
pid
xrwght
xewght
mastat
age
qfedhi
qfachi
paygu
jsprof
jspayg
yrl
paygui
yrli
hgr2r
hgsex
butype
buno
hoh
hdemp

long
byte
byte
byte
int
int
byte
byte
byte
byte
byte
long
double
double
byte
int
byte
byte
double
double
double
double
byte
byte
byte
byte
byte
byte
byte
double

%12.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%12.0g
%10.0g
%10.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%10.0g
%10.0g
%10.0g
%10.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%10.0g
2

household identication number

person number
aeaage
whether working age
ajbhas
did paid work last week
ajbsoc occupation (soc): current main
job
ajbsic
industry (sic) of employer:
current job
ajbsemp
employee or self-employed:
current job
ajbhrs no. of hours normally worked
per week
ajshrs s/emp: hours normally worked
per week
ajbstat
current labour force status
arace
ethnic group membership
cross-wave person identier
x-sectional respondent weight
x-sectional enumerated
individual weight
amastat
marital status
aage
age at date of interview
aqfedhi
highest educational
qualication
aqfachi highest academic qualication
apaygu
usual gross pay per month:
current job
ajsprof
monthly self employed prot
ajspayg monthly self employed gross pay
ayrl
annual labour income
(1.9.90-1.9.91)
apaygui
imputation ag - apaygu
(derived)
ayrli
imputation ag - ayrl
(derived)
ahgr2r relationship to reference person
ahgsex
sex - hh grid
abutype
benet unit type
abuno
benet unit number
ahoh conventional head of household
indicator
hd empl earn

spemp
hdse
spse
grpay
hhp
hhneti
xpfood
hhwght
hhsize
region
nch02
nch34
nch511
nch1215
nch1618
nkids
ncouple
nwage
year
xhwght
jbsic92
racel

double
double
double
double
oat
oat
int
double
byte
byte
byte
byte
byte
byte
byte
byte
byte
byte
oat
double
int
byte

%10.0g
%10.0g
%10.0g
%10.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%8.0g
%10.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%9.0g
%10.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g

FES

axpfood
ahhsize
aregion
anch02
anch34
anch511
anch1215
anch1618
ankids
ancouple
anwage
mracel

sp empl earn
hd se earn
sp se earn
hh gross labour earnings
hh pension income
hh net income
total weekly food and grocery
bill
household weight
number of persons in household
region / metropolitan area
number children in household
aged 0-2
number children in household
aged 3-4
number children in household
aged 5-11
number children in household
aged 12-15
number dependent children in hh
16+
number of children in household
number of couples in household
number in household of working
age
household weight
industry(sic92) of employer:
current job
ethnic group membership (long
version)

Data and documentation can be downloaded from e.g: here. The codes supplied
can be applied to the raw individual income data or researchers can e-mail
Ben Etheridge to obtain the compiled dataset, merged_inc_ind.dta. The raw
household expenditure data are extremely detailed and have been compiled and
cleaned over many years by researchers at the IFS. To protect this intellectual
capital we provide the household data at a more advanced stage of processing,
after they have been aggregated to total household non-durable expenditure and
after some data trimming. These data are contained in merged_hh_resid.dta.
For all data, we advise researchers to use the dataset created for this project.
Readme_FES.txt in the FES folder contains more information on running
3

the codes once the raw/compiled data have been obtained.

Contents of Compiled Dataset - merged_inc_ind.dta:

obs: 370,818
vars: 37
size: 66,747,240
variable name
persno
hhref
year
week
W
L
YE_ind
YS_ind
Y_ind_L
Y_ind_Lp
Y_ind_A
Y_ind_Ap

storage
type
double
double
long
double
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat

Y_ind
Y_ind_D
Y_ind_O
Y_ind_mTa
Y_ind_pTr
yrm
numads
numhhkid
grosfac
age
sex
marstat
occ
emppos
hours

oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
double
double
oat
long
long
long
double
long
double

display
format value label
variable label
%9.0g
Internal IFS Person Number
%9.0g
Household reference
%9.0g
Year of interview
%9.0g
Week of interview
%9.0g
Wage
%9.0g
Hours worked
%9.0g
Income from employment
%9.0g
Gross income from
self-employment
%9.0g
Labour income
%9.0g
Labour income plus private
transfers
%9.0g
Financial asset income
%9.0g
Financial asset income plus
real (non-imputed) housing
asset income
%9.0g
Gross income
%9.0g
Net income
%9.0g
ONS-comparable income
%9.0g
Gross income minus taxes
%9.0g
Gross income plus transfers
%9.0g
Year and month
%9.0g
HH:NumAdults
%9.0g
HH:NumChildren
%9.0g
Sampling weights
%9.0g
Ad:Age
%9.0g sex_l
Ad:Sex
%38.0g marstat
Ad:Marital Status
%12.0g occ
Ad:Occupation
%45.0g emppos Ad:Employment Position
%9.0g
Ad:Hours of Work
4

region
jbhas
hoh_red
spouse
num_ads_25_60
num_ads_25_6~FT
num_ads_25_6~PT
hh_weights
weighta
educ_att

oat %9.0g
ssr
Standard Statistical Region
(approx from 2001)
oat %24.0g newjh
Employment status
oat %21.0g hoh_label
Head-of-household type
oat %9.0g
is a spouse
oat %9.0g
Number of adults aged 25-60
oat %9.0g
Number of adults aged 25-60
working full time
oat %9.0g
Number of adults aged 25-60
working part time
oat %9.0g
Mod'ed-OECD equiv. factor
oat %9.0g
Better Samp. weights after
2001q2
oat %11.0g educ_label
Educational attainment

Contents of Compiled Dataset - merged_hh_resid.dta:

obs: 125,540
vars: 96
size: 51,220,320
variable name
hhref
week
yrm
year
region
hoh_red
age_bands
age_h
educ_h
marstat_h
hh_weights
price

storage
type
double
oat
double
long
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat

display
format
%8.0g
%8.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%21.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%38.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
5

value label
ssr
hoh_lab
age_lab
marstat

variable label
Household reference
Week of interview
Year and month
Year of interview
Standard Statistical Region
(approx from 2001)
el
Head-of-household type
el_2
Age of head
Education of head
_l
Marital status of head
Mod'ed-OECD equiv. factor
CPI price deator

num_ads_25_60
num_ads_25_6~FT
num_ads_25_6~PT
W_h
W_s
L_h
L_s
Y_L
Y_Lp
Y_A
Y_Ap

oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat

%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g

Y
Y_D
C
C_p
C_COMP_ONS_NOM
samp_select
numads
numhhkid
grosfac
sex
occ
weighta
Y_h
Y_s
P_h
P_s
FT_h
FT_s
Y_O
Y_mTa
Y_pTr
lY_h
lY_s
lW_h
lW_s

oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
double
double
oat
long
double
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat

%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%12.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
6

sex_l
occ

Number of adults aged 25-60

Number of adults aged 25-60
working full time
Number of adults aged 25-60
working part time
Wage of head
Wage of spouse
Hours of head
Hours of spouse
Labour income
Labour income plus private
transfers
Financial asset income
Financial asset income plus
real (non-imputed) housing
asset income
Gross income
Net income
Non-durable consumption
Non-durable consumption plus
real housing costs
ONS-comparable consumption
RED sample selection ind.
HH:NumAdults
HH:NumChildren
Sampling weights
Ad:Sex
Ad:Occupation
Better Samp. weights after
2001q2
Head labour earnings
Spouse labour earnings
Head working
Spouse working
Head working full time
Spouse working full time
ONS-comparable income
Gross income minus taxes
Gross income plus transfers
Log head labour earnings
Log spouse labour earnings
Log wage of head
Log wage of spouse

lL_h
lL_s
lY_L
lY_Lp
lY_A
lY_Ap

oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat

%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g

lY
lY_D
lY_mTa
lY_pTr
lC
lC_p
Y_L_eq
Y_Lp_eq
Y_A_eq
Y_Ap_eq

oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat

%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g

Y_eq
Y_D_eq
Y_mTa_eq
Y_pTr_eq
C_eq
C_p_eq
lY_L_eq
lY_Lp_eq
lY_A_eq
lY_Ap_eq

oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat

%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g

lY_eq
lY_D_eq
lY_mTa_eq

oat
oat
oat

%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
7

Log hours of head

Log hours of spouse
Log labour income
Log labour income plus private
transfers
Log nancial asset income
Log nancial asset income plus
real (non-imputed) housing
asset income
Log gross income
Log net income
Log gross income minus taxes
Log gross income plus transfers
Log non-durable consumption
Log non-durable consumption
plus real housing costs
Equiv'd labour income
Equiv'd labour income plus
private transfers
Equiv'd nancial asset income
Equiv'd nancial asset income
plus real (non-imputed) housing
asset income
Equiv'd gross income
Equiv'd net income
Equiv'd gross income minus taxes
Equiv'd gross income plus
transfers
Equiv'd non-durable consumption
Equiv'd non-durable consumption
plus real housing costs
Equiv'd log labour income
Equiv'd log labour income plus
private transfers
Equiv'd log nancial asset
income
Equiv'd log nancial asset
income plus real (non-imputed)
housing asset income
Equiv'd log gross income
Equiv'd log net income
Equiv'd log gross income minus
taxes

lY_pTr_eq
lC_eq
lC_p_eq

oat
oat
oat

%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g

lnumhh
lW_h_resid
lW_s_resid
lL_h_resid
lL_s_resid
lY_h_resid
lY_L_resid
lY_Lp_resid
lY_A_resid
lY_Ap_resid

oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat
oat

%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g

lY_resid
lY_D_resid
lC_resid
lC_p_resid

oat
oat
oat
oat

%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g
%9.0g

lY_mTa_resid
lY_pTr_resid

oat
oat

%9.0g
%9.0g

LFS

Equiv'd log gross income plus

transfers
Equiv'd log non-durable
consumption
Equiv'd log non-durable
consumption plus real housing
costs
Log size of household
Residual log wage of head
Residual log wage of spouse
Residual log hours of head
Residual log hours of spouse
Residual log head labour
earnings
Residual log labour income
Residual log labour income plus
private transfers
Residual log nancial asset
income
Residual log nancial asset
income plus real (non-imputed)
housing asset income
Residual log gross income
Residual log net income
Residual log non-durable
consumption
Residual log non-durable
consumption plus real housing
costs
Residual log gross income minus
taxes
Residual log gross income plus
transfers

Information about the LFS can be found here. The LFS is not a core database
in the analysis and use of the data depends on much eort supplied by other
researchers at the IFS. Therefore, we provide fewer microdata from this survey.
Readme_LFS.txt in the LFS folder contains more information on the data
and results from the LFS.
Contents of Compiled Dataset - lfs_7508.dta:

obs: 11,528,898
vars: 5
size: 161,404,572
variable name
year
sex
age
econstat
weight

storage
type
int
byte
int
byte
oat

display
format value label variable label
%9.0g
Year of interview
%4.0g
Sex
%9.0g
Age (at interview)
%14.0g econstat Economic status
%8.0g
LFS Weight

SPI

Data and documentation can be downloaded here. The codes supplied can be
applied to the raw, downloaded data or researchers can e-mail me to obtain the
compiled ready-to-use datasets - e.g. spi1996.dta.
Readme_SPI.txt in the SPI folder contains more information on the data
and results from the SPI.
Contents of Compiled Dataset - spi1996.dta:

obs: 61,020
vars: 51
size: 9,397,080
variable name
sex
marital
sref
st
mcatype
wbadue
apadue
bpadue
pay

storage
type
byte
byte
long
byte
byte
int
int
int
long

display
format value label
variable label
%8.0g
indicator of sex
%8.0g
indicator of marital status
%12.0g
statistical reference number
%8.0g
sex and married status
%8.0g
married couples allowance
indicator
%8.0g
widows bereavement allowance due
%8.0g
additional personal allowance
due
%8.0g
blind persons allowance due
%12.0g
pay from employment (net ben &
9

taxterm
epb
srp
pension
ubisja
incpben
ossben
incprop
incbbs
gdivs
oth20pc
20%
mothinc
omortal
oldmrlf
covnts
fact
ti
mainsrc
mcatran
exps
newmrlf
giftaid
mothded
lossbf
capall
prots
dships
mcadue

long
long
int
long
int
int
int
long
long
long
long
long
int
long
long
double
long
byte
int
long
int
long
long
long
long
long
byte
int

%12.0g
%12.0g
%8.0g
%12.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%12.0g
%12.0g
%12.0g
%12.0g
%12.0g
%8.0g
%12.0g
%12.0g
%10.0g
%12.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%12.0g
%8.0g
%12.0g
%12.0g
%12.0g
%12.0g
%12.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
10

foreign)
taxable pay on termination of
employment
gross taxable exps, pays and
benets
total state pensions
occupational, personal, other
pensions
unemployment ben, income sup,
jobseeker
taxable incapacity benet
other taxable soc. sec. benets
net income from property (uk
and other)
interest from uk banks etc
gross dividends, uk companies &
unit trs
other interest & divs charged @
other income not shown elsewhere
home loans outside of miras
relief for maint paid under old
rules
covenanted payments to charities
factor to gross sample to uk
level
total income
main source indicator
married allowance transferred
to spouse
deductions for expenses from
employment
relief for maint paid under new
rules
gift aid payments to charities
other charges, deductions,
reliefs
losses brought forward against
self emp
capital allowances for self emp
gross adjsuted prots, self emp
directorship indicator
married couples allowance due

eidf
iidf
pas
mcas
othalls
taxinc
mar
totax
tei
tii
gorcode
industry
pensrlf
aged

long
long
int
int
int
long
byte
long
long
long
byte
byte
long
byte

%12.0g
%12.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%12.0g
%8.0g
%12.0g
%12.0g
%12.0g
%8.0g
%8.0g
%12.0g
%8.0g

11

earned income deductions (full

relief)
invest income deductions (full
relief)
personal allowance, aged, non,
super
sum of mca, wna, bpa
other allowances due to case
amount of taxable income
marginal rate of tax indicator
total tax liability less tax
credits
total earned income
total investment income
government oce region
rar+gppens+nppens+ravc+supann