It collects information on the incomes and characteristics of private households in the United Kingdom.
This means that the FRS has been assessed by the Office for Statistics Regulation as meeting the necessary standards of trustworthiness, quality and value.
These include: stratification of the issued sample, to ensure an even spread of richer versus poorer areas; and weighting of the achieved sample, via several control factors, to ensure an even spread of Council Tax bands and ages of respondents.
Households who take part receive a £10 Post Office voucher, as a token of appreciation.
Note that the survey sample excludes those living in communal settings (hostels, student halls of residence, care homes, prisons and the like) as they are not "private" households.
The report has several chapters which highlight the breadth of information the FRS collects, as well as changes since the previous year's release.
The chapters included are: Income and State Support, Tenure (including housing costs), Disability, Carers, Pensions, Savings & Investments, Self-Employment, Household Food Security and Food Bank Usage, and Childcare.