What the Minimum Income Standard Tells us About Living Standards in the United Kingdom

Abstract

The Minimum Income Standard (MIS) research gives an insight into living standards in the UK, and provides a way of tracking the (in)adequacy of incomes over time. As such it offers useful context for discussions of inequality. At the core of the research are deliberative groups held with members of the public who identify and discuss the goods and services that are considered necessary for a living standard that provides a socially acceptable minimum.

A Dignified Standard of Living in Mexico: Results of a Pilot Study of the Minimum Income Standard Approach

“…This research has found that watching television with others and watching the same program as others are each associated with feelings of belonging and the need for company (Cohen and Lancaster 2014 ), which were implied in the conversations held in groups in Mexico. Similarly, participants in MIS research in other countries have agreed that having a television helps to fulfill the need for information, connectedness, and social interaction (see Collins et al 2012 for Ireland and Davis et al 2016 for the UK).…”

“…In the United Kingdom, baskets of goods and services included in the MIS project are updated every 2 years (Davis et al 2016 ). In the UK, for example, households above pension age introduced a home computer and internet access into their budgets in 2014, arguing that being able to access online facilities was necessary for personal development and in order to be part of society (Davis et al 2014 ). Currently, the non-food basket in Mexico is updated only with inflation (CONEVAL 2012 ) and expanding the pilot of the MIS project could provide the opportunity to change or adjust the contents both in terms of quantity and quality as well as price.…”

“…However, these measures have focused predominantly on objective poverty and there is no history of systematically consulting citizens within Mexico in order to define a dignified standard of living, a threshold that includes goods and services beyond basic material needs and which would enable people to be part of society. In this light, a pilot study of the Minimum Income Standard (MIS) (Davis et al 2016 ) approach in Mexico asked groups of members of the public about the goods and services that people in that country considered necessary in order to achieve a dignified standard of living.…”

“…Therefore, the description of goods and services obtained by consensus in groups results in a calculation of the income that people would need in order to reach a minimum socially acceptable standard of living defined by members of the public—a ‘dignified life’. Using the total budget that would cover the cost of the list of goods and services considered by society to be needed to achieve a dignified standard of living, MIS makes it possible to look at how many households do not have the income required to meet this standard (Davis et al 2016 ; Padley et al 2016 , 2017 ).…”

Older people and Social Quality – what difference does income make?

“…This provides the income required by different households based on the costs of items and services members of the public believe are needed to reach a minimum acceptable standard of living which enables household members to participate fully in society. In 2016, this figure was estimated at £267.39 per week for a pensioner couple or £186.77 for a single pensioner, after housing costs (Davis et al 2016). As such, if pensioners are claiming Pension Credit, arguably they should have an income in line with the minimum income required for an appropriate standard of living (Age UK 2014).…”