“I Would Not Change [My] Sibling for the World, Maybe the World Can Change for My Sibling”: The Experiences of Adult Siblings of People With Developmental Disabilities
The sibling relationship is complex, unique and important. When one sibling has a developmental disability, siblings can be important sources of care, support, advocacy and friendship for one another. We drew on online survey data from 456 UK adult siblings of people with DD. Siblings provided written responses to a prompt about their sibling experiences (> 80,000 words). These data were analysed using qualitative content analysis and organised using the Siblings Embedded Systems Framework (SESF). The SESF helps us to consider how complex interacting mechanisms and factors surrounding siblings, families and wider systems at a local, national and international level, can influence siblings' outcomes, experiences and relationships. Overall, siblings shared a range of experiences related to their: mental health and wellbeing; personal characteristics; sibling relationships; intra-familial experiences; caring experiences; experiences accessing support services; community experiences; and views on the discrimination and ableism that their disabled siblings experienced. Siblings reflected on the interconnected and dynamic nature of their experiences. We found the SESF to be a useful way of presenting an account of the data overall, as well as to explore the impact of societal factors on siblings' experiences. Siblings' structural, political and social contexts impacted their personal lives.
Moran‐Morbey E, Blackwell C, Ryan T & Hayden NK (2024) “I Would Not Change [My] Sibling for the World, Maybe the World Can Change for My Sibling”: The Experiences of Adult Siblings of People With Developmental Disabilities. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 34(6).
Apprenticeships, Child Benefit and Universal Credit: exploring the impact of eligibility criteria on living standards and income adequacy
This report, undertaken for Youth Futures Foundation, looks at the impact of a young person starting an apprenticeship on household incomes, and in particular the adequacy of income relative to the Minimum Income Standard (MIS). It uses two illustrative case study households (a couple with two children, one primary age and one secondary school age, and a lone parent with two children, one primary age and one secondary school age) to look at the impact of the loss of Child Benefit and the Universal Credit child element on a households’ ability to reach MIS, when a young person in the household starts an apprenticeship.
Padley, M. (2024) Apprenticeships, Child Benefit and Universal Credit: exploring the impact of eligibility criteria on living standards and income adequacy. London: Youth Futures Foundation.
A Minimum Income Standard for the United Kingdom in 2024
The Minimum Income Standard (MIS) provides a vision of the living standards that we as a society agree everyone in the UK should be able to achieve. This latest update sets out what households need to reach the MIS benchmark in 2024.
Davis, A., Blackwell, C., Ellis, W., Padley, M., Stone, J. and Balchin, E. (2024) A Minimum Income Standard for the United Kingdom in 2024. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
A Minimum Income Standard for Students
This report presents research, supported by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) with funding from TechnologyOne, looking at the cost of a minimum standard of living for students. It draws on the Minimum Income Standards (MIS) approach to set out what students need to participate in university life. The research identifies minimum needs and the cost of meeting these – for accommodation, in the home, for university, socially and life more broadly. Rent accounts for the largest single area of cost, and over half (59%) of a minimum budget is made up of rent, utility bills, clothes and food within the home. The report outlines a significant shortfall between the MIS budget and student maintenance loans, and shows the level of other resources, such as employment or parental support, required to fill the gap.
Hill, K., Padley, M. and Freeman, J. (2024) A Minimum Income Standard for Students. London: Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI).
The cost of remoteness: reflecting higher living costs in remote rural Scotland when measuring fuel poverty
This latest report is part of Scottish Government funded work in remote rural Scotland to identify what is needed for a minimum, socially acceptable standard of living in these areas. This ongoing research is needed as the Minimum Income Standard income benchmarks are key to the Scottish fuel poverty calculation detailed in the Fuel Poverty (Targets, Definition and Strategy) (Scotland) Act 2019. This report updates estimates made for 2021 of specific additional costs that make it more expensive to meet a minimum acceptable living standard in remote rural areas of Scotland. In 2022, minimum budgets were updated based on inflation, on updated costings in remote rural Scotland, and on adjustments to take account of new UK-wide Minimum Income Standard research in urban areas and the new minimum budgets that this produced. The report sets out the impact of inflation, updated costings and new urban UK research on remote rural Scotland minimum budgets. Taken together, these produce new minimum budget uplifts for 2022, showing that costs are between 14% and 27% higher in remote rural Scotland.
Bryan, A., Ellen, J., Hirsch, D. and Padley, M. (2024) The cost of remoteness: Reflecting higher living costs in remote rural Scotland when measuring fuel poverty, 2022 update. Edinburgh: Scottish Government.
A Minimum Digital Living Standard for Households with Children - Overall Findings Report
This report brings together findings from the three-year UK Minimum Digital Living Standards (MDLS) research funded by the Nuffield Foundation, Nominet and the Welsh Government. The project sets a benchmark for what households with children need to feel included in the digital world around them, based on what parents and young people themselves say is required. It takes a holistic approach highlighting the importance of having adequate devices and internet connection, as well the skills necessary to be confident and safely digitally included. The report provides findings on the development of MDLS and what it contains, survey and mapping data on where households are in relation to MDLS, and interviews and discussions with stakeholder organisations and families on varying needs and the challenges households face in meeting MDLS.
Yates, S., Hill, K., Blackwell, C., Davis, A., Padley, M., Stone, E., Polizzi, G., D’Arcy, J., Harris, R., Sheppard, P., Singleton, A., Ye, Z., Carmi, E. and Garikipati, S. (2024) A Minimum Digital Living Standard for Households with Children: Overall Findings Report. Liverpool: University of Liverpool.
Households living below a Minimum Income Standard: 2008-2022
The latest in a series of reports from the Centre for Research in Social Policy at Loughborough University shows that nearly half of working-age households with incomes below the Minimum Income Standard (MIS) are those where all adults are employed. Households living below a Minimum Income Standard: 2008 to 22 is part of ongoing work funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), setting out what the public agree everyone needs to live with dignity in the UK today. The report shows that among households that don’t have the income needed for a socially acceptable standard of living, 64% are households where there is some work, and 46% are households where all adults are employed. Children remain the group most likely to be living below MIS, with 42% living in households with inadequate income. Although pensioners are the least likely to be in a household below MIS, they have seen a sharp increase in risk since 2008-2009, with the proportion below MIS increasing from 13% to 21% in 2021-2022.
Padley, M., Stone, J. and Robinson, E. (2024) Households living below a Minimum Income Standard: 2008-2022. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.