A minimum income standard for the UK in 2015

This is the 2015 update of the Minimum Income Standard for the United Kingdom, based on what members of the public think people need for an acceptable minimum standard of living. This update of minimum budgets is based on changes in living costs. The findings also reflect adjustments to the tax and benefits systems, which affect both the extent to which people living on benefits can afford necessities and the amount that people in work need to earn in order to reach a minimum net income. After six consecutive years in which the cost of a minimum basket rose, causing a deterioration in the ability to meet the minimum for households on benefits and on the minimum wage, 2015 saw little change in the minimum cost of living, and a slight improvement in benefit and minimum wage incomes relative to the minimum required. However, with continued fiscal austerity, this improvement may be shortlived. The report shows: • what incomes different family types require in 2015 to meet the minimum standard; and • how the cost of a minimum household budget has changed since the last update in 2014.