Poor ‘are not the lowest-paid’
By politics.co.uk staff
The poorest people are not those with the lowest income, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has found.
Research by the IFS discovered that those at the bottom of the income spectrum had higher living standards than those with slightly better pay.
The findings suggest low spending is a better indication of poverty, instead of low income.
In fact, those with the lowest income had a high level of spending, suggesting they were only temporarily at the bottom of the income pile – drawing upon savings or other assets as a buffer against poverty – or that they are underreporting their earnings.
The research has implications for how the government measures poverty and living standards.
The government’s current poverty measures are entirely based on income, but the IFS research suggests other measures would provide a more accurate picture.
