Households below Minimum Income Standard
The Minimum Income Standard is designed as a benchmark to inform decision-making, not a new poverty line. We do not argue that everyone below it is in hardship and everyone above it is okay. However, we think that in the present economic climate, when incomes are being squeezed, it is useful to look at trends in the number of households living below MIS, and how far short of the benchmark they fall.
This will illustrate the impact on different groups of a period when incomes have been generally rising more slowly than the cost of a minimum standard of living.
CRSP is undertaking analysis of the Family Resources Survey to estimate the number of households in different groups with disposable incomes below MIS and below a certain percentage of MIS. We will continue to monitor this trend annually.
Latest publication
Padley, M. and Stone, J. (2023) Households below the Minimum Income Standard: 2008-2021. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation