Household budgets

Source: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/crsp/minimum-income-standard/household-budgets/ Parent: https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/crsp/minimum-income-standard/

MIS budgets show the cost of goods and services required as a minimum for 13 different household types. They can be viewed in the following two forms:

Household budgets

Income requirements at a glance

Use our online Minimum Income Calculator to see the current budgets for specified household types. The calculator not only shows weekly budgets, but also the level of earnings or pension income required to reach the minimum. The calculator can also be adjusted to change assumptions on variable costs such as rent and childcare, be used to show budgets for Inner and Outer London and show what someone on a given earnings level would have in disposable income, compared to the MIS budgets.

Detailed lists of the goods and services on which budgets are based

Every four years, the budgets are compiled afresh with a costed set of items. The following pdfs show the latest lists for each main household type:

2024 budget lists

MIS budget for a single working age female - no children

MIS budget for a single working-age male - no children

MIS budget for a working age couple with no children

MIS budget for single female pensioner

MIS budget for a single male pensioner

MIS budget for partnered pensioners

MIS budget for a couple with 1 child aged 0-1

MIS budget for a couple with 2 children aged 2-4 and primary

MIS budget for a couple with 3 children aged 2-4, primary and secondary

MIS budget for a couple with 4 children aged 0-1, 2-4, primary and secondary

MIS budget for a lone parent with 1 child aged 0-1

MIS budget for a lone parent with 2 children aged 2-4 and primary

MIS budget for a lone parent with 3 children aged 2-4, primary and secondary

*Single people’s budgets are calculated separately for male and female, then averaged when reporting the total for a single person.