Joseph Rowntree Foundation Says Single Brits Need To Earn A Minimum Of £13400 a year
A couple with two children need to spend £370 a week and a pensioner couple need £201 excluding housing and childcare costs, the charity says.
Cinema tickets, a bottle of wine and a bird feeder on the list of products people need to participate in society.
The JRF figures are higher than some estimates of the Government.
According to the report, which took two years to put together the purchasing power necessary to pay a basic but socially acceptable standard of living was higher than the official government figures calculate the poverty line.
Staying alive
The report combines academic study with a consensus of 39 different groups of people to reach a series of benchmarks for an acceptable cost of living in Britain.
The definition of a minimum standard of living is not just the amount of money necessary for survival, and includes “more than just food, clothing and shelter,” says the report.
“It is about having enough money to have opportunities and choices necessary to participate in society,” he said.
For a single person of working age including boots, a pay-as-you-go mobile phone and a bicycle. For all these “essential” items, or rent a modest house in the council, one person would have £13400 per year before taxes, said the JRF.
For a retired couple, a meal and a bird feeder are on the list, a single mother and needed £ 210 per week - excluding housing costs and child care - for items including diapers and baby a Christmas tree.
Families should have an opportunity to take a week of self-catering holidays in the UK, according to the report.
Needs do not want
The study excludes “an aspiration” issues, and JRF said that was aimed at initiating a debate on what was an acceptable standard of living.
“This research is designed to encourage debate and to start building a public consensus about what level of income anyone should have to live below,” said the director of JRF Julia Unwin.
“Of course, everyone has their own views about what items in a family budget are essential. But this is the best effort to date to allow citizens to discuss and agree on what all homes should be able to offer, “he added.
Experts ensure that the lists provide a proper diet and enough heat to stay healthy.
According to estimates, only one person working full time would earn £ 6.88 per hour to reach the minimum weekly - which is more than the current minimum wage of £ 5.52.
A single person on income support would get less than half this amount.
An out of work family would get the in benefits two-thirds of what the JRF regarded as the minimum requirement, but to pensioners Pension credit reached an acceptable level of income, the charity said.
Poverty levels
Jonathan Bradshaw, a professor of social policy at York University and co-author of the report, said that this was the first time that the question of how much was sufficient income had been addressed.
Official poverty measures have been based on family income data.
The official poverty line is a household with an income of 60% of the average UK household, with the poverty line adjusted for family size.
The government has used this measure as the basis for his promise to halve child poverty by 2010, and have been eradicated a decade later.
The report of JRF took in the views of people from a variety of social groups in rural and urban areas, before coming with an average of a cross section of society.
It concluded that a car was not bound by any social group, nor were cigarettes, but a bit of alcohol consumed at home is acceptable.
The JRF accepted that it could not be proved that all those living below their level of minimum income would be in “hardship”.
From Governments
A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “This government is committed to a fairer, more inclusive society, providing opportunities for all. We have lifted 600000 children and about one million pensioners out of poverty.
“We have increased payments for heating in winter to 400 pounds for someone over 80 years and 250 pounds for 60 years.
“We welcome the important contribution of this study.”
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