30 Jun 2014
Loughborough research confirms Minimum Income Standard for 2014
New research from The Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP) published today (30 June) shows that the cost of what the public thinks is essential has soared 28 per cent since 2008 while average earnings have risen only 9 per cent.
The analysis shows that even as real wages start to rise again, low-earning families with children are unlikely to be able to close the gap between their income and their needs, due to low pay, rising prices and reduced government support.
A Minimum Income Standard for the UK, undertaken by CRSP for the independent Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), is an annual living standards benchmark. It provides a barometer of what has happened to living standards for low income families since the downturn and during the recovery. For the first time, pensioners say that having the internet at home is essential to allow them to participate in society. Working age people without children, on the other hand, say that a landline is no longer an essential.
For further information see the full press release.