What is a typical household exactly?

Average Household Income Depends On Education Levels was the title of an item (August 28) reporting on the household budgetary survey carried out recently by the National Statistics Office. This revealed that “a typical household has an average annual income after tax of almost €21,000 but this varies widely depending on education levels”. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Apparently, the “typical households” surveyed didn’t take in those households which have to survive and make ends meet on a state pension.

As pointed out recently by an eminent correspondent, service pensions do not exist for certain categories of employees who have a high standard of education and who would have occupied an executive position enjoying a high five-figure salary before retiring. Had the survey included all categories across the board the results would have been far different than those published as those households left out of the survey have to subsist on a far lower income, almost half of the figure quoted for the average household.