St Helena : Socio-economic Information for St Helena
Submitted by Saint Helena Herald (Public Relations Information Office) 22.04.2010 (Article Archived on 06.05.2010)
Throughout this bulletin all averages refer to the median. In the case of salaries this is the middle full-time salary when salaries are listed from lowest to the highest. In the case of household expenditure it is the middle amount spent when the expenditure of each household is listed from lowest to highest.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC INFORMATION FOR THE MEDIA
BULLETIN 2: FULL-TIME EARNINGS, HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE AND LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS
Throughout this bulletin all averages refer to the median. In the case of salaries this is the middle full-time salary when salaries are listed from lowest to the highest. In the case of household expenditure it is the middle amount spent when the expenditure of each household is listed from lowest to highest.
The average salary figure is for an individual. The average household expenditure figure is what is spent by the whole household – which may have several sources of income, including salaries.
Average individual full-time earnings from the main source of employment
SHG
In 2008/09 the average salary of an SHG employee in full-time employment was £5,266 per year - £5,205 for a man and £5,436 for a woman. This was the equivalent of £101 per week - £100 for a man and £105 for a woman.
About 29% of SHG employees had a salary of between £4,000 and £4,499 per year
Private Sector
In 2008/09 the average salary of a private sector employee in full-time employment was £5,314 per year - £5,606 for men and £4,847 for women. This was the equivalent of £102 per week - £108 for men and £93 for women.
About 23% of private sector employees had a salary of between £4,000 and £4,499 per year
Approximately 32% of SHG and 26% of private sector employees have declared a second income for income tax purposes.
Average household expenditure
In the 2009 Household Expenditure Survey the average household expenditure was £116 per week (equivalent to approximately £6,032 per year).
Without taking into account those who receive a pension or social security the 2008 Census shows that most households have more than one person in some form of full-time work.
Low Income
It is internationally accepted that low income households are those with a total income of less than 60% of average household income. In St Helena we do not have information on total household income. But if we use the average household expenditure figure as a low income threshold then the figure would be £3,640 per year or £70 per week. This threshold figure is very general and does not take into consideration the number of adults or children in a household.
Ann Muir, Social Policy Planner
Strategic Policy Unit
The Castle
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