The current cost of living is pushing more people into poverty, with almost 68% of low income...
Living standards
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20/06/2013
Can relative poverty be abolished?
The idea that if poverty is relative it will always be with us is a common misconception, argues John Veit-Wilson. 'Relative poverty' can be abolished if no one has fewer resources than needed to achieve that society’s minimum standards.
Category: Articles -
10/06/2013
Absolute poverty in America higher than in 1969
Despite using a 40-year old absolute standard, child poverty in the US has increased dramatically from 14% to 22% as Salvatore Babones reports here.
Category: Articles -
25/04/2013
Families left fragile by austerity
Financial pressures are increasingly spilling over into family life and putting relationships under strain, according to a new report.
A small-scale study examined the lived experience of families (over a range of incomes) against a backdrop of austerity. It looked at the various impacts of austerity on family life, and what matters to families and supports them – with a particular focus on family finances and well-being. In addition, an Ipsos MORI poll of over 1,000 parents explored the ways financial pressures are affecting family life.
Category: Reports -
28/03/2013
PSE report reveals impoverished nation
A stark picture of the levels and extent of deprivation in the UK today is revealed in the Poverty and Social Exclusion (PSE) first report ‘The Impoverishment of the UK’. The research finds that for a significant proportion of the population their living standards fall below minimum levels and for some, living conditions and opportunities have been going backwards.
Among the key findings are:Over 30 million people (almost half the population) are suffering some degree of financial insecurity.
Category: News stories -
22/03/2013
'The Impoverishment of the UK' PSE UK first results: Living Standards
In this section you will find reports outlining our approach to the PSE UK 2012 research project.
Category: PSE Report -
20/01/2013
Call for ‘living wage cities’ to tackle low pay
A series of 'living wage city deals' could help the fight against low pay, according to a joint think-tank report. Under such deals, some of the dividend to the Exchequer from cities paying a living wage in the public sector would be recycled back to the local area, to support small and medium-sized businesses in moving away from low pay.
Category: Reports -
19/11/2012
Squeezed middle – US lessons for Britain
Workers in the US have not benefited from earnings growth for an entire generation – the average American worker earned no more in 2009 than in 1975 – and now something similar appears to be happening to the 'squeezed middle' in Britain. A new book, to be published shortly, brings together a wide range of expert contributions on the lessons the UK can learn from the American experience.
Category: Reports -
05/11/2012
‘Living wage’ increased to £7.45 an hour
Updated figures have been produced for the 'living wage' – the minimum level of pay needed to provide an adequate standard of living for an average household. The Centre for Research in Social Policy calculates the new rate outside London at £7.45 an hour – an increase of 25 pence over the previous rate of £7.20 an hour. This compares with the national minimum wage hourly rate for adults of £6.19.
The calculation establishes a minimum income standard, based on the cost of items chosen by the public as being essential for a decent standard of living. Amounts are then added for rent, council tax and childcare costs. The calculation is done for each of nine different household types, averaged, and finally converted into a minimum wage requirement - assuming all adult family members work full time.
Category: Reports -
31/10/2012
Low-income households ‘worse off in 2020 than 2008’
Millions of households are heading for a long period of falling or stagnant living standards unless bold steps are taken to ensure economic growth over the next decade is broadly shared, according to a commission report. It warns that even with a return to steady growth, living standards for many low-to-middle income households are likely to be lower by 2020 than they were in 2008.
The commission consisted of a broad group of leading economists, employers, trade unionists and heads of parents’ groups brought together by the Resolution Foundation think tank.
Category: Reports -
23/09/2012
Low/middle-income households poorer by 2020
Living standards for low- and middle-income (LMI) households are predicted to be lower in 2020 than a decade earlier even if the economy recovers, according to a new analysis.
The study, prepared for the Resolution Foundation think-tank, looks at the changing structure of the jobs market in tandem with the effects of the tax and benefit system, and models the prospects for different households. It assumes the economy recovers steadily from the recession, and then grows at 2.5 per cent each year from 2015.
Category: Reports
