Abstract
'A minimum essential standard of living is one which meets a person's physical, psychological, spiritual and social needs' (UN definition of an adequate lifestyle). This report updates and extends this research to include a broader, and more representative, group of households. Together with the six existing household types, this report uses a consensual budget standards methodology to provide data on the essential living requirements of individuals and households across the entire lifecycle; from children to pensioners.
Building on this analysis, the report proceeds to establish the minimum gross income required by these individuals and households to afford the expenditure necessary to meet this standard of living. By establishing this Minimum Income Standard the report provides a new benchmark grounded in the lived experience of people, one which complements other poverty measures and assists in the formation of income support policies to tackle poverty and enhance social inclusion at each stage of the lifecycle.
The study was launched on 6 February 2012 by Dr Donald Hirsch, Head of Income Studies and Leader of the Minimum Income Research Programme at the Centre for Research in Social Policy, Loughborough University, UK.
Authors
Dr Micheál Collins was Assistant Professor of Economics at Trinity College Dublin (to September 2011) and is Senior Research Officer at the NERI.
Dr Bernadette Mac Mahon D.C. is Director of the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice.
Gráinne Weld is a Research Associate at the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice.
Robert Thornton is a Research Associate at the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice.
More information is available at: http://www.tcd.ie/policy-institute/publications/bluepaper_27.php