| Two different equivalence scales are used in the income statistics; the OECD scale and the EU scale. According to the OECD scale, the first adult member of the household has a weighting of 1.0, with the next adult having a weighting of 0.7, while children are given a weighting of 0.5 each. A household consisting of two adults and two children must therefore, according to the OECD scale, have an income that is 2.7 times higher than the income of a single person, in order to have the same economic standard of living. The EU scale, which is a 'modification' of the OECD scale, puts more weight on large households achieving economies of scale when more people live together. According to the EU scale, the first adult member of the household shall have a weighting of 1.0, with the next adult having a weighting of 0.5, and children having a weighting of 0.3. In this equivalence scale therefore, a two-child family would need a total income equivalent to 2.1 times the income of a single person in order to have the same standard of living. |