Households below Minimum Income Standard

The Minimum Income Standard (MIS) sets out what people think is needed in order to live with dignity in the UK today. It establishes a threshold below which households struggle to meet their minimum needs.

This annually updated report provides an estimate of the proportion of people who fall below this level, and those with incomes below 75% of MIS. Individuals below 75% of MIS face a greatly increased likelihood of deprivation compared with those whose incomes are above the MIS benchmark. Identifying and tracking trends in the number of individuals in households below MIS helps to show how the prevalence of inadequate income has changed for different sub-groups of the population over time.

Latest publication

Padley, M., Stone, J. and Robinson, E. (2024) Households living below a Minimum Income Standard: 2008-2022. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.