The concepts described on these pages are words and expressions used in statistics with a specific, limited meaning. In everyday speech the word may have a different meaning. In connection with each definition you can find information about which sets of statistics use the concept.
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Household's reference person
The household reference person is usually the member of the household with the highest income. If more than one member of a household have the same income, or no member of the household has income, the oldest member of the household has been selected as the reference person.
Statistics using the definition
Validity of the definition
- Valid
Source organisation
- Tilastokeskus
Related concepts
The person with the highest personal income is chosen as the household's reference person. The reference person is defined according to interview data. Income is mainly the criterion determining the reference person, but in some cases (e.g., entrepreneur households) the activity of the whole household is taken into account. Starting from the statistical reference year 2022, the reference person has been defined based on register data. The reference person is the household member with the highest income.
A considerable part of household-specific classifying data is formed on the basis of the reference person's data.
Statistics using the definition
Validity of the definition
- Valid
Source organisation
- Tilastokeskus
Related concepts
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