Minimum Income Standards
The Minimum Income Standard for the United Kingdom
- Regular research on the Minimum Income Standard (MIS) produces budgets for different household types, based on what members of the public think you need for a minimum acceptable standard of living in the UK. It is carried out by Loughborough University's Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP).
- 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 Joseph Rowntree Foundation funds the main research. Other funders have included Trust for London, Thomas Pocklington Trust and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
- The number of people living below MIS is calculated annually.
- The experience of living below MIS is monitored through a group of families on low incomes, tracked over time.
- MIS is used widely in the UK for policy, practice and analysis. Notably, it is used:
- to calculate the Living Wage
- by charities as a benchmark for helping people in financial need
- as part of the Scottish Government's fuel poverty measure and targets
- to calculate the cost of a child
- in legal arguments including in a challenge to the affordability of employment tribunal fees, upheld by the Supreme Court
MIS in other countries
The Minimum Income Standard research method, first developed in the UK, is spreading across the world, supported by the CRSP team. MIS research projects or pilots have been carried out in France, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Singapore, Thailand and South Africa.