The dimensions of deprivation used to classify households are indicators based on the four selected household characteristics. A household is deprived in a dimension if they meet one or more of the following conditions:
- Employment: any member of a household not a full-time student is either unemployed or long-term sick,
- Education: no person in the household has at least level 2 education (see highest level of qualification), and no person aged 16-18 is a fulltime student,
- Health and disability: any person in the household has general health ‘bad or very bad’ or has a long term health problem, and
- Housing: Household’s accommodation is ether overcrowded, with an occupancy rating -1 or less, or is in a shared dwelling, or has no central heating.
A household is classified as being deprived in none, or one to four of these dimensions in any combination.