This report looks in detail at food insecurity among benefit claimants using YouGov surveys of the...
Necessities
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16/08/2012
PSE Britain 1999: Findings
The PSE 1999 survey found that the rise in poverty between 1983 and 1990 had continued through the 1990s, though at a slower rate. In 1983 14 per cent of households lacked three or more necessities because they could not afford them. That proportion had increased to 21 per cent by 1990 and to over 24 per cent by 1999. Items defined as necessities, as for the 1983 and 1990 study, were those that more than 50 per cent of the population believed ‘all adults should be able to afford and which they should not have to do without’. This rise in poverty occurred while the majority of the British population became richer. But while poverty appears to have become more widespread during the 1990s, it did not seem to have deepened.
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16/08/2012
Breadline Britain 1990: Findings
Applying the Breadline Britain 1990 survey’s findings to the population as a whole, and grouping the necessities together into specific aspects of life, in 1990:
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11/07/2012
Lack of affordable transport hitting low-income households
A lack of affordable and accessible public transport is having a serious effect on low-income households and reducing people’s ability to find work, according to campaigners.
The report summarises three separate pieces of research into the links between transport, poverty and social exclusion.
Category: Reports -
10/07/2012
Minimum acceptable income standard ‘now £36,800’
A couple with two children need to earn £36,800 each year to have a socially acceptable standard of living, according to a Joseph Rowntree Foundation study. This is up by nearly one-third since a similar study in 2008.
The study examined what members of the public think people need for a socially acceptable standard of living, and how much money different households (working-age people with and without children, and pensioners) need to reach this standard.
Couples with children have been hit in three areas in particular:
Category: Reports -
21/06/2012
Public Perceptions of Poverty and Social Exclusion: Final Report on Focus Group Findings
This report describes the results of a series of fourteen focus groups conducted as part of the development work for the PSE: UK research that explored perceptions of poverty, social exclusion and living standards in the UK today. The focus group research uncovered little evidence of consistent variation in perceptions of ‘necessities of life’ across social groups, for example on the basis of household type, ethnicity or income status. The paper explores definitional issues with regards to the term ‘necessity’ and the extent to which contextual information is used in making decisions. It also discusses questions as to the extent to which the availability of public goods and services affects participants’ decisions.
Category: Result analysis -
21/06/2012
The Necessities of Life in Northern Ireland
This working paper presents the opinions of the general public as to which items and activities are believed necessary in Northern Ireland today to enjoy a decent standard of living. It is based on an analysis of responses to a module in the Omnibus survey conducted in Northern Ireland in 2011. The responses are explored by key socio-demographic and economic variables to ascertain the extent of agreement among the general public as to their importance. While there are some differences of opinion between different groups in society, in general a very high degree of consensus on the necessities is evident. The survey findings confirm that the items and activities that are essential to achieve an acceptable standard of living in our society today and which all adults should be able to afford and not have to do without are both material and social in nature.
Category: Result analysis -
07/06/2012
Indicators of Social Participation
This paper explores the definition of poverty, based on the concept that people are poor if they are prevented through lack of resources from carrying out obligations that are associated with their social role. The paper investigates which common social roles are found in social surveys and which activities are associated with these roles. It looks at ways of capturing participation in common social activities.
Category: Methods development -
07/06/2012
Public Perceptions of Poverty, Social Exclusion and Living Standards: Preliminary Report on Focus Group Findings
This report describes the results of a series of fourteen focus groups conducted as part of development work for the PSE: UK survey. This qualitative development work is intended to inform the design of both the necessities Omnibus module and the main-stage PSE living standards survey. This preliminary report focuses on participants’ perceptions of the ‘necessities of life’, i.e. those items and activities that everyone should be able to afford to have or to do in our society today and should not have to go without. The recommendations arising from this report will contribute to the selection of necessities indicators in the forthcoming Omnibus module.
Category: Methods development -
07/06/2012
Measurement and Change in Deprivation and Exclusion in Australia: A Report on Research in Progress
This paper reports some initial results from a survey of poverty and social exclusion conducted in Australia in 2010. The analysis reported in this paper indicates that the deprivation methodology is capable of generating robust and plausible results about what constitutes the essentials of life, which can then be used to examine the nature of social disadvantage in Australia and who is most affected by it. Results from sensitivity analysis also suggest that there is value in applying alternative methods before estimating the incidence of deprivation as a robustness check, given the limitations of some aspects of the approach.
Category: Methods development -
07/06/2012
Europe 2020 Poverty Measurement
In June 2010 the European Union adopted its first anti-poverty target and radically changed its poverty measurement methodology. These changes have significant implications for the Poverty and Social Exclusion in the United Kingdom project, which are considered in this paper.
Category: Methods development
