‘The economic position of households’ is part of the ‘Measuring
National Well-being Programme’. This quarterly publication
focuses on household actual income and expenditure, which are
measures that take account of services in kind provided by the
state, such as healthcare and education. It is important to
consider household actual income and expenditure as these
services in kind have implications for well-being and they vary
from one country to another and over time. Real household actual
income per head increased by £21 (0.5 per cent) in the third
quarter of 2012, compared with the second quarter of 2012, to
its highest level since the fourth quarter of 2010 Real
household actual expenditure per head was virtually unchanged
rising by £9 (0.2 per cent) in the third quarter of 2012,
compared with the second quarter of 2012 The household saving
ratio increased by 0.3 percentage points to 7.7 per cent in the
third quarter of 2012. Gross household saving was £21.2 billion
in the same quarter, up from £20.3 billi