A minimum income standard for Britain in 2009

This report is the first annual update of the Minimum Income Standard for Britain (MIS), originally published in 2008. The standard is based on research into what members of the public, informed where relevant by expert knowledge, think should go into a budget in order to achieve a minimum socially acceptable standard of living. The report considers two aspects of uprating the standard for 2009: changes in prices that influence the cost of a minimum ‘basket’ of goods and services, and changes in living standards that may influence what items should be included in that basket.