The Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s annual Minimum Income Standard (MIS) report, which looks at what members of the public think households need to achieve a ‘socially-acceptable’ living standard, shows that a couple with two children now needs to earn more than £20,400 each, compared to £13,900 each six years ago, when the first MIS report was carried out.
A lone parent with one child needs to earn more than £27,100, up from £12,000 in 2008 for a minimum acceptable standard of living.
Parents with two children needing childcare need to earn 46 per cent more than 2008.
The report, carried out by Loughborough University, found the cost of a minimum socially acceptable standard of living has increased by around 28 per cent since 2008, higher than the official inflation rate of 19 per cent, which is due to rising costs of essentials such as food and public transport, rather than people’s expectations.
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