Our publications

Below are some of our recent publications, to see more please select a specific year.

2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
Older publications
A Minimum Income Standard for the United Kingdom in 2024 The Minimum Income Standard (MIS) provides a vision of the living standards that we as a society agree everyone in the UK should be able to achieve. This latest update sets out what households need to reach the MIS benchmark in 2024. Davis, A., Blackwell, C., Ellis, W., Padley, M., Stone, J. and Balchin, E. (2024) A Minimum Income Standard for the United Kingdom in 2024. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Running up a down escalator: Improving the legal aid means test as living costs rise Hirsch, D. and Padley, M. (2024) Running up a down escalator: Improving the legal aid means test as living costs rise. London: The Law Society
Sight loss and the minimum cost of living: 2024 update paper In 2016, we carried out research to identify the different and/or additional needs and costs of reaching a minimum socially acceptable standard of living for those who are sight-impaired and severely sight-impaired. This research identified a wide range of additional needs, increasing the cost of a weekly minimum budget for individuals who are sight impaired. While there has been no new research on the needs of individuals who are sight-impaired since 2016, this briefing estimates how much these additional costs have increased over the period between 2016 and 2024 by applying increases in the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) to the additional and different items identified in the original research. It also looks at what this means for the adequacy of social security benefits intended to support individuals with the additional costs of disability - Personal Independence Payments for working-age adults and Attendance Allowance for adults above state pension age. Padley, M. and Ellis, W. (2024) Sight loss and the minimum cost of living: 2024 update paper. London: RNIB - Royal National Institute of Blind People
UK benefit uptake among blind and partially sighted people This research report, produced for RNIB, looks at the UK benefit uptake among blind and partially sighted people, showing a substantial deficit in the take-up of disability benefits due to multiple barriers, including poor communication and the challenge of getting to face-to-face appointments. Around one in four blind and partially sighted people (83,000) in the UK are not getting disability benefits they are entitled to. Stone, J., Blackwell, C. and Shepherd, C. (2024) UK benefit uptake among blind and partially sighted people. London: Royal National Institute of Blind People
A Minimum Income Standard for Students This report presents research, supported by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) with funding from TechnologyOne, looking at the cost of a minimum standard of living for students. It draws on the Minimum Income Standards (MIS) approach to set out what students need to participate in university life. The research identifies minimum needs and the cost of meeting these – for accommodation, in the home, for university, socially and life more broadly. Rent accounts for the largest single area of cost, and over half (59%) of a minimum budget is made up of rent, utility bills, clothes and food within the home. The report outlines a significant shortfall between the MIS budget and student maintenance loans, and shows the level of other resources, such as employment or parental support, required to fill the gap. Hill, K., Padley, M. and Freeman, J. (2024) A Minimum Income Standard for Students. London: Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI).