3.1 Choice and design of data collection method An online survey was selected as offering several advantages for collecting sensitive personal data from individuals. The questionnaire design process involved scrutiny of the existing literature on the financial well‐being area and detailed interrogation of existing surveys on the subject. The questionnaire design and administration used a number of measures to maximise response rates, given the sensitive nature of the data sought. For example, income‐related questions often generate high levels of non‐response, so these were presented to respondents in categories to offer a degree of privacy. The questionnaire was piloted among a range of individuals with different demographic characteristics to obtain feedback on the sensitivity and clarity of content, and to test out acceptability of the average completion time. Useful suggestions to improve the individual questions and scales were subsequently adopted in the final version of the questionnaire. Completion time was around 10 to 15 minutes. Reassurances about the use of the data and the independence of IES were provided in an introduction page. This page also included the purpose of the research, a guarantee that individual responses would remain anonymous, confidential and not be seen by any individual outside the research team. Contact details of the person responsible for data processing and an offer of support in completing the questionnaire were also provided.