Acceptable standards of living… that’d be nice. July 3, 2008
Posted by WorldbyStorm in Social Policy.trackback
The Guardian reported yesterday on findings that:
A single person living in Britain needs to earn at least £13,400 a year before tax to afford a basic but acceptable standard of living, according to a report published by the Joseph Rowntree foundation today.
The “minimum income” is enough to cover needs such as food and warmth, as well as the occasional film ticket and simple meal out.
This exercise, apparently the first of its kind, saw:
…a figure … decided by a panel of people on varying incomes, with experts on hand to make sure the budget arrived at provided an adequate diet and enough warmth to remain healthy.
Interesting to note that :
The report’s co-author Jonathan Bradshaw, professor of social policy at the University of York, said: “Until now, poverty assessments have been largely based on rather arbitrary measures of relative income, which are helpful for monitoring trends but leave unanswered the question of how much income is enough.
“Based on these public assessments, almost everyone defined as living below the official poverty line falls short of what people judge to be adequate for their fellow citizens – sometimes by quite a long way.”
Phillipa Hunt, poverty spokeswoman for Save the Children UK, said: “Britons believe that families on benefits cannot afford the bare minimum needed to live in a way that most people would find acceptable.”
And the actual supports in the UK?
The report said families without a working adult received about two-thirds of the minimum budget in state benefits.
Single people without work received less than half of the minimum budget in benefits.
The basic state pension gives a retired couple about three-quarters of the minimum income, but claiming the means-tested pension credit could top up their income to just above the minimum standard, the report said.
The study found that almost everybody classified as being in poverty had an income too low to pay for an “adequate” standard of living as defined by the panellists.
So what were the basic figures?
How the weekly budgets break down:
Single person, working age
Food and drink £48.07
Clothing and footwear £6.30
Housing costs £83.42
Household goods and services £19.64
Personal goods and services (inc health) £5.99
Transport £17.03
Social and cultural activities £29.73
Total £210.18Pensioner couple
Food and drink £60.65
Clothing and footwear £9.93
Housing costs £103.64
Household goods and services £20.20
Personal goods and services (inc health) £23.65
Transport £4.65
Social and cultural activities £43.21
Total £265.92Couple with two children
Food and drink £103.53
Clothing and footwear £29.26
Housing costs £123.56
Household goods and services £27.11
Childcare £190.47
Personal goods and services (inc health) £27.39
Transport £35.02
Social and cultural activities £90.08
Total £626.43
Total excluding childcare £435.96
I don’t know if any weighting was given to the above figures for large metropolitan centres. But doing a small experiment – and accepting that the comparisons are inexact due to differences within the Republic and the UK, by going to www.xe.com to get a sense of a comparison with the South of Ireland.
Single person, working age
Food and drink £48.07 €60.92
Clothing and footwear £6.30 €7.87
Housing costs £83.42 €104.30
Household goods and services £19.64 €24.55
Personal goods and services (inc health) £5.99 €7.48
Transport £17.03 €21.29
Social and cultural activities £29.73 €37.17
Total £210.18 €262.74
Pensioner couple
Food and drink £60.65 €75.81
Clothing and footwear £9.93 €12.41
Housing costs £103.64 €129.58
Household goods and services £20.20 €25.25
Personal goods and services (inc health) £23.65 €29.57
Transport £4.65 €5.81
Social and cultural activities £43.21 €54.02
Total £265.92 €332.443
Couple with two children
Food and drink £103.53 €129.42
Clothing and footwear £29.26 €36.57
Housing costs £123.56 €154.48
Household goods and services £27.11 €33.89
Childcare £190.47 238.14
Personal goods and services (inc health) £27.39 €34.24
Transport £35.02 €43.78
Social and cultural activities £90.08 €112.63
Total £626.43 €783.27
Total excluding childcare £435.96 €545.09
And by way of comparison consider the assistance the state gives through say Jobseekers Allowance (additional rent allowance/other benefits may be available, but it gives an idea of the situation).
Jobseekers Allowance: €197.80
Increase for a qualified Adult: €131.30
Each Qualified Child Full rate €24.00
Half rate €12.00
Housing costs presumably includes rent which people would receive extra money towards. It is not all entirely out of the €197.80.
I thought I covered it where I said (additional rent allowance/other benefits may be available)… but reading it now, you’re right, sorry, I should have made that clearer.
These break downs of the basics, what are they based on and as you say you don’t know whether weighting was given to large cities. The cost of living in London is high. Travel is expensive in London and transport, for example, is over £17 per week. But £13,400 is utterly low and you would just about have your head above water. And it would be a basic living and why should that be? The appalling poverty wages many workers are on (RMT cleaners are on £5.50 and are demanding £7.20). And also the constant widening gap between rich and poor esp. considering how so many people have become rich under NL. Utterly obscene.
Completely agree. And yet isn’t it telling how actual state benefits pitch it 2/3rds of that figure?
[...] that research from the Joseph Rowntree Federation suggests that a single adult needs to maintain a basic standard of [...]
[...] that research from the Joseph Rowntree Federation suggests that a single adult needs to maintain a basic standard of [...]