Statistics from the Wealth and Assets Survey

Overview

Based on the findings of this review, as set out in this report, and a request we received from ONS, the accredited official statistics status should be suspended from Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS) statistics. They will no longer be accredited official statistics.

The WAS, launched in 2006, is a longitudinal survey conducted every two years by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) that measures the financial wellbeing of households and individuals in terms of their assets, savings, debt and planning for retirement. ONS publishes the data and analyses from the survey in a publication titled Household Wealth in Great Britain. These data inform key analyses, such as assessing pensions adequacy, determining the level of the state pension, conducting academic research about household wealth and developing monetary policy and fiscal policy.

This report provides our view on these statistics against the Code of Practice for Statistics.

Why did we conduct this review?

We previously set out our intention to undertake further regulatory work on response issues impacting household surveys used across the statistics landscape.

As outlined in the scope of the review, we have considered:

the quality of the survey data due to declining response rates, any resulting impact on potential biases and any further actions needed to improve data quality

the clarity of communication with users around ongoing data quality concerns

the extent to which these statistics meet user need

We have also considered how the response rates have evolved in data collected more recently and the steps that ONS is taking to ensure survey quality, given the 2-year survey design, and the resulting lag between the data collection and reporting of results.

Highlighted Findings

The WAS is a unique data source. Many users we spoke to expressed appreciation for the survey and noted the unique role of the WAS, as there are no other free, publicly available datasets providing a comprehensive view of household wealth.

In common with other statistics based on household surveys, response rates for the WAS have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, compounding the reduction in response rates that is a longer-term trend. ONS has taken steps to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic, including changing mode to ensure data collection could continue and using statistical approaches to mitigate the impact of any bias this may have introduced.

The overall sentiment conveyed by users was that the statistics based on the WAS no longer meet their needs. The reasons they gave included concerns over the quality of some estimates and that ONS has not been able to sufficiently mitigate the pandemic-induced quality issues. Users were also concerned about resourcing, engagement and the comparability of data over time.

Given the resource challenges across its portfolio of social surveys, in 2023, ONS made the decision to prioritise the data collection for the Labour Force Survey and Living Costs and Food Survey. Response rates and, therefore data quality, for round 9 (2022 to 2024 data) of WAS are likely to be further reduced.

Our judgement

Whilst ONS took some action to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic on the quality of estimates from WAS, these statistics are no longer of sufficient value or quality to meet users’ needs.

Additionally, ONS expects a further deterioration of quality (and therefore ability to meet user needs) in round 9, indicating smaller sample sizes are a longer-term issue. These factors mean that, on balance, these statistics no longer comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics.

Therefore, we support ONS’s request to suspend the accreditation for these statistics. This suspension will hold for round 8 and all future releases until ONS indicates to us that statistics from the WAS are to be considered for re-assessment against the Code.

This report details five requirements that ONS should act on to improve these statistics. Fully resourcing all elements of the WAS, from data collection to processing, analysis and user engagement, will be important to address the issues identified in this report.

Next steps

ONS should ensure that the accredited official statistics logo is removed from the latest published round 8 data and metadata relating to the Wealth and Assets Survey. This will ensure clarity for users about the quality issues found.

We expect ONS to report regularly on its progress against the five requirements from this report, starting from September 2025.

We are trialling new ways to make our judgements in OSR clearer and more transparent. This new overview page, at the start of reports and compliance checks, is part of this. We welcome your feedback – please email regulation@statistics.gov.uk.