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Report
Cost of living

Households below a Minimum Income Standard: 2008/09 to 2014/15

This report shows how many people are living below an inadequate standard of living in the UK.

Written by:
Donald Hirsch, Dr Laura Valadez and Matt Padley
Date published:

The Minimum Income Standard (MIS) is a benchmark of adequate income based on what the public think people need for a minimum acceptable living standard in the UK. This analysis monitors changes in the number of people in households with incomes below MIS, and the number below 75% of MIS, an indicator of poverty.

The analysis shows that:

  • between 2008/9 and 2014/5, the number of individuals below MIS rose by four million, from 15 million to 19 million (from 25 to 30% of the population)
  • there are 11 million people living far short of MIS, up from 9.1 million, who have incomes below 75% of the standard and are at high risk of being in poverty.

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