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The Minimum Income Standard is the amount of income people in the UK need to afford a good life. It’s calculated by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation through research into what members of the public think is a decent standard of living.
A basic income set at the Minimum Income Standard could all but eliminate poverty in the UK.
The Minimum Income Standard gives us a reference point on what social security, particularly benefits, should be aspiring to if it genuinely aims to provide people with a decent quality of life.
But what role would a basic income play in this social security system?
At the first Basic Income Conversation Research Network Seminar of the year we will speak to Iain Porter and Donald Hirsch about the Minimum Income Standard research and the role a basic income could play in addressing poverty and insecurity.
What does the Minimum Income Standard research tell us about what social security needs to do in the UK and how can this be applied to the basic income debate? Should we implement a basic income at the level of the Minimum Income Standard? Can we build a social security system that eliminates poverty without a basic income?
Our speakers are:
Iain Porter, Policy and Partnerships Manager (social security) at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Iain leads the development of social security policy at JRF, with a focus on how to enable more people to move out of poverty through a better system of social security. Iain previously helped develop a comprehensive new social security policy platform for a major UK political party and was previously a senior manager with an international business advisory firm.
Donald Hirsch, School Associate Dean for Enterprise and Director, Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University
Donald is a former journalist and international policy consultant, who was Poverty Adviser to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation for the ten years prior to joining Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP) in 2008. He played a central role in establishing A Minimum Income Standard for the United Kingdom and since 2012, he has been Director of CRSP, whose strong team of researchers lead the MIS programme and associated projects studying income. Together with his colleagues, he works with a wide range of groups including charities, the Law Society and the Scottish Government to find ways of applying the Minimum Income Standard in social policy and practice.
We look forward to seeing you there!