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Background
Abigail joined CRSP in 1998 and has contributed to projects across all the Centre's key areas of work, in particular specialising in designing and using qualitative methodology and researching vulnerable groups. Since 2006 she has been conducting research on Minimum Income Standards (see www.minimumincomestandard.org for further information).
Research Interests
Minimum income standards, families, poverty and social exclusion, qualitative and visual research methods.
Current and Recent Research
A Minimum Income Standard for Britain
This project brought together the methodological expertise of CRSP and the Family Budget Unit (FBU) at York University combining CRSP's consensual budget standards methodology with the FBU's normative approach. The research aimed to find out how much people need in order to achieve a minimum acceptable standard of living in Britain today. A summary of the research and its findings can be found at: www.minimumincomestandard.org/downloads/Reports/launch/mis_for_britain_findings.pdf
It brought together over 200 people in 39 focus groups, together with input from experts on heating and nutrition, to devise a minimum income standard for a range of household types.
Full Report
Bradshaw, J., Middleton, S., Davis, A., Oldfield, N., Smith, N., Cusworth, L. and Williams, J., (2008) A Minimum Income Standard for Britain: what people think, Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
A Minimum Income Standard for Britain 2009
For MIS to continue to inform public and political discussion about how much is needed to achieve a minimum acceptable standard of living it must be kept up-to-date. This research updated the original budgets to April 2009 prices.
Review of the Child Material Deprivation Items in the Family Resources Survey: Qualitative Element (MIS Necessities)
The Department for Work and Pensions commissioned CRSP to investigate what items parents consider are essential necessities for families with children in Britain. Drawing on the methodology used in the MIS study, this qualitative research is designed to help update the government’s measure of deprivation in families with children. It has informed the design of a large-scale survey (the ONS Omnibus Survey) asking members of the public which items they think that every family in Britain should be able to afford if they want them, whose results in turn will be applied in future Family Resources Surveys to measure how many families lack a selection of items that the public considers to be necessities.
Report: Hirsch, D. and Smith, N. (2010) Family values – parents’ views on necessities for families with children, Department for Work and Pensions Research Report No 641. Norwich: HMSO.
Minimum Income Standard: Rural Costs
The Commission for Rural Communities (CRC) has commissioned CRSP to develop a minimum income standard for people living in rural areas, in relation to the MIS for Britain.
The research uses tailored version of the methodology from the original project to meet the challenges associated with rural costs.
A Minimum Income Standard for Northern Ireland
Following the launch of the Minimum Income Standard for Great Britain, this research examines how it compares with a MIS for Northern Ireland. The project involved desk-based research, on-foot price checking and focus groups in Omagh and Belfast. The research found that while some living costs are more and some less, overall the budgets required were similar enough in Northern Ireland and Great Britain to talk about a UK MIS.
Report: Smith, N. Phung, V.H., Davis, A. and Hirsch, D. (2009) A minimum income standard for Northern Ireland, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Abigail is looking forward to developing the work on minimum income standards both in Britain and further afield.
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