IFS Briefing: Household spending in Britain: What can it teach us about poverty?

Much of the recent policy debate surrounding poverty in Britain focuses on income as a measure of living standards. In this report, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, we consider one alternative to income for measuring poverty that has been largely overlooked in the mainstream poverty debate in the UK: namely, household expenditure. Economic theory suggests that household expenditure is an important measure of financial well-being.

Using 30 years of data from household surveys, this report:

• shows the trends in poverty in Britain since the 1970s when household expenditure is used as a measure of financial well-being, rather than household income;
• investigates how using spending, rather than income, as a measure of well-being alters our view of who is poor;
• examines the spending levels of the lowest-income households;
• analyses whether low-income pensioners' spending on basic and non-basic items increased as a result of the large increases in entitlements to means-tested benefits since 1999.

Household spending in Britain will be of interest to civil servants, policy makers, academics and researchers working on poverty issues, and other groups with an interest in anti-poverty policies.

This event will take place from 1pm - 2pm and a sandwich lunch will be available from 12.30pm.

Places are free of charge and will be allocated on a first come first served basis. Please contact Bonnie Brimstone to reserve your place.