These Minimum Income Standards (MIS) reports are based on conversations with members of the public and help inform policy such as calculating the Living Wage and as part of the Scottish Government's fuel poverty measures and strategy.
The latest MIS Report was published on Friday 8 September and outlined a substantial increase in the cost required to live with dignity in the UK. A single person now needs to earn £29,500 per year to reach the minimum threshold for living in dignity – up by £4,000 on the previous year. For couples the increase was greater. A couple with two children now requires income totalling £50,000 to live with dignity.
These increased costs are a result of rapidly rising prices of goods and services – with hikes in domestic fuel and food having an acute impact on budgets. Despite Government interventions for those out of work, such as April 2023’s 10.1% increase in benefits – which was in line with inflation - and cost-of living support payments, a couple with two children on out of work benefits and in receipt of cost-of-living payments only have half of what they need to live with dignity.
Those in work received an uplift in the Living Wage. However, a couple with two children where one parent is working full-time on the Living Wage, and the other is not working, only reach 74% of the minimum standard without the cost-of-living support payments. This is only boosted by 3% to 77% of the minimum standard when cost-of-living payments are considered.
Loughborough University’s MIS reports have described and updated the UK standard since 2008, calculated variations for London and rural areas and addressed themes including the additional cost of disability and whether a 'greener' minimum is possible.
The main research is funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Other funders have included Trust for London, Thomas Pocklington Trust and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
Before the summer, Loughborough University’s Policy Unit ran an event in Parliament highlighting the University's Centre for Research in Social Policy's MIS London-specific work, where it was asked what minimum level of income is required for a Londoner to live with dignity.