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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. She has worked on the Minimum Income Standard (MIS) programme since its inception and led the fieldwork and analysis for the MIS 2010 update.
The MIS research is an ongoing programme of work based at CRSP. The MIS is rooted in social consensus about the goods and services that everyone in modern Britain needs, while at the same time drawing on expert knowledge about basic living requirements.
The MIS is updated annually and is accessible via an online interactive tool, the Minimum Income Calculator.
For more information on the MIS programme, see www.minimumincomestandard.org
Research Interests
Minimum income standards, families, poverty and social exclusion, qualitative and visual research methods.
Current and Recent Research
A Minimum Income Standard for the UK in 2010
In 2008, the first minimum income
standard (MIS) was published by JRF. It
is updated regularly, to reflect changes
to costs and living standards. Initially
covering Britain, the research has recently
been extended to Northern Ireland, where
overall results were similar, so MIS is now
applicable to the whole of the UK.
Over time, changes in prices alter the cost
of a basket of goods and services that
represent a minimum standard of living. In
addition, changes in social norms will alter
the content of that ‘minimum basket’. This
study considered both those elements,
and updated the budgets to April 2010.
Report
Davis, A., Hirsch, D. and Smith, N., (2010) A Minimum Income Standard for the UK in 2010, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
Minimum Income Standard: Rural UK
This project extended the work on MIS for the UK. It compares the needs and costs of households in urban and rural areas. Specifically, it considers what rural households need in order to achieve the same minimum income standard as their urban counterparts. It distinguishes how these costs vary within rural areas by different household types and by degrees of rurality.
Report: Smith, N., Hirsch, D. and Davis, A. (2010) A minimum income standard for rural households. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
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, York: 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.
Report
Hirsch, D., Davis, A. and Smith, N., (2009) A Minimum Income Standard for Britain in 2009, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
A Minimum Income Standard for Britain 2008
The original 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.
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, 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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