‘Three in 10 people can’t afford what they need’

RESEARCH BY COUNTY EXPERTS

THREE in 10 people in the UK do not have the necessary income to achieve a socially acceptable standard of living, according to a report.

The research from Loughborough University looked at 10 years of data about household incomes and minimum household budgets, which show that 19.6 million people are unable to afford the goods and services required to participate fully in society.

The number lacking the income they need has risen from 16.2 million in that period (2008/09 to 2018/19).

The analysis looked at household incomes before the pandemic. In future years, this annual research will look at the impact of Covid-19 on incomes and the number of people unable to afford all they need.

The Minimum Income Standard (MIS), produced by the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University, provides an indicator of living standards in the UK.

Funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation – an independent social change organisation working to solve UK poverty – the analysis also found that the number of people with incomes below 75 per cent of MIS had risen from 10.1 million in 2008/09 to 11.9 million in 2018/19.

Matt Padley, one of the report’s authors, said: “This standard is one that includes food, clothes and shelter, but importantly is also about having what you need to be able to participate in society.

“Nearly one in five pensioners can’t afford this minimum living standard.

“Households with children are finding that work is not providing a route out of low income – two-fifths of lone parents in full-time work are below MIS, 57.3 per cent of single-earner couple parents (where one parent is in work and the other economically inactive) are below this level.

“Rising costs and a continued freeze in working-age benefits, both in and out of work, in 2018/19 mean there has been an increase in the proportion of individuals below MIS for the first time since 2013/14.

“There have been points over the past decade where things have improved for particular groups – the introduction of higher national minimum wages has undoubtedly helped some – but the number below MIS remains higher than a decade ago for every group explored here.

“In fact, one of the clearest trends over the past decade is the growing number of households where all adults are in work but they are still falling short of the income they require to meet their minimum needs.”

In 2018/19 a quarter of all children (3.6 million) were living in homes with incomes below 75 per cent of MIS – while 42.3 per cent of children (5.9 million) were living in households which did not reach the minimum income standard.

“Not enough has been done in recent years to address and increase low income, and to enable all individuals to reach a minimum socially acceptable standard of living,” said Matt.

“Covid-19 has highlighted the shortfalls in the existing social security system. Without changes, many households will continue to live with a growing gap between what they have and what they need for a minimum standard of living.”