The Minimum Income Standard: Understanding the cost of education to households in the UK
New analysis undertaken by the Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP) – for Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) – shows that parents typically need to find at least £39 per week for a child’s secondary school education and £19 for a primary-aged child. Although education is free at the point of access, in reality the cost of uniform, learning materials, school trips, packed lunch and transport sets most parents back at least £39.01 per week, per secondary school child and £18.69 per primary child.
The findings are based on the Minimum Income Standard (MIS) research programme, which since 2008 has set out what the public think is needed for a minimum socially acceptable living standard in the UK. The analysis focusing on education, costing-up what parents who took part in focus groups between 2012 and 2022 said children and their families need specifically to meet children’s minimum educational needs.
Excluding before and after-school childcare and household costs like printers, the research found the annual price tag for going to secondary school is £1,755.97 per child and £864.87 for a primary school child. That’s £18,345.85 for children to go through all 14 years of school.
Padley, M. and Davis, A. (2023) The Minimum Income Standard: Understanding the cost of education to households in the UK. London: Child Poverty Action Group
Households below the Minimum Income Standard: 2008-2021
The latest report in the Households below the Minimum Income Standard series looks at the period from 2008 to 2021, including the first Covid-19 year. The analysis, funded by JRF, looks at what has happened to the adequacy of incomes, measured by individuals’ ability to reach the Minimum Income Standard (MIS). The report shows that children remain the group most likely to be living below MIS, with 40% living in households with inadequate income. While pensioners are the least likely to be in a household below MIS, they have seen an increase in risk since 2008-09, with the proportion below MIS increasing from 12.3% to 15.4% in 2020-21. The report also shows that Covid-19 had an impact on the adequacy of household incomes, with an increase in the proportion of all individuals living in households with incomes below MIS to 29.1% in 2020-21. But our analysis also shows that the rapid policy response to the pandemic, increasing support through the benefits system for low-income households, is likely to have mitigated some of the worst possible consequences: the proportion of children in households with incomes below 75% of MIS fell sharply from 25.6% in 2019-20 to 21.3% in 2020-21, while overall the proportion of individuals below this level also fell slightly.
Padley, M. and Stone, J. (2023) Households below the Minimum Income Standard: 2008-2021. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation
A UK Minimum Digital Living Standard for Households with Children: Interim Report
This report covers the first stage of the Minimum Digital Living Standard (MDLS) research which is being funded by the Nuffield Foundation and Nominet. Drawing on the MIS approach, the research involved a series of deliberative groups with parents and young people to establish what households with children require to meet MDLS and feel included in the digital world. It highlights that digital needs are interrelated and meeting MDLS requires the appropriate level of goods and services to carry out the tasks and activities families need, as well as the skills and understanding to use them safely and confidently. This proof-of-concept research establishes that the approach can provide not only a meaningful and accessible definition of an adequate standard of digital living, but also that members of the public can agree on what is needed for that to be reached. The report outlines challenges in reaching MDLS - including costs, internet access, support with skills, and issues around digital harms and safety – and recommendations.
Blackwell, C., Davis, A., Hill, K., Padley, M. and Yates, S. (2023) A UK Minimum Digital Living Standard for Households with Children. Loughborough: Centre for Research in Social Policy
Towards a Welsh Minimum Digital Living Standard: Final Report
The Welsh Government commissioned the MDLS project team to help develop a Minimum Digital Living Standard for Wales. This report presents findings from: a literature review; online interviews and a survey with stakeholders across the Welsh digital landscape; and deliberative focus groups with parents and young people in Wales. These explored the relevance of the MDLS definition to Wales, and the contents of the UK MDLS for urban households with children, including its relevance in rural areas. The UK MDLS definition and needs were seen as appropriate for Wales, but the report outlines key factors influencing people’s abilities in Wales to meet the threshold, including: difficulties accessing adequate and reliable internet connection via broadband as well as mobile data, wider infrastructure issues including in rural areas and concerns around digital risks and safety.
Yates, S., Hill, K., Blackwell, C., Stone, E., Polizzia, G., Harris, R., D’Arcya, J., Davis, A., Padley, M., Roberts, D., Lovell, J. and Lainge, H. (2023) Towards a Welsh Minimum Digital Living Standard: final report
Living or Surviving? - Benefits, barriers, and opportunities for young people transitioning out of homelessness
This report from CRSP, funded by the West Midlands Combined Authority Homelessness Taskforce and facilitated by St Basils, highlights the impact of low income and the social security system on young peoples’ living standards and their opportunities to transition out of homelessness. The research comprised in depth interviews with 21 young people aged 17 – 25 across the West Midlands who were living in or had moved on from supported housing after experiencing or been at risk of homelessness.
Webber, R., Hill, K. and Hirsch, D. (2023) Living or surviving? Benefits, barriers, and opportunities for young people transitioning out of homelessness. Birmingham: West Midlands Combined Authority Homelessness Taskforce
Policy interventions to alleviate poverty at the end of life
This report builds upon previous research by CRSP estimating that 90,000 people in the UK die in poverty every year, and that the risk of poverty is highly concentrated among people who die before pension age. This new research, funded by end-of-life charity Marie Curie, evaluates the costs and benefits of giving working age people with terminal illness early access to the State Pension. The findings show that giving this group early access to their State Pension could almost halve their rate of poverty across the UK, lifting more than 8,600 dying people out of poverty every year. The cost of introducing this change, £114.4 million per year, is 0.1% of the annual State Pension bill and just £4 million more than the Department for Work and Pensions spent on overpaying the State Pension in error last year. The research therefore demonstrates that the simple and cost-effective measure of giving working age people with terminal illness access to the State Pension could be a highly effective policy to reduce the risk of poverty for people at a time when they are already extremely vulnerable, both personally and financially.
Stone, J. (2023) Policy interventions to alleviate poverty at the end of life. London: Marie Curie