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The Minimum Income Standard (MIS) research gives an insight into living standards in the United Kingdom, and provides a way of tracking the adequacy of incomes over time. As such it offers useful context for discussions of inequality. At the core of the research are deliberative groups held with members of the public who identify and discuss the goods and services that are considered necessary for a living standard that provides a socially acceptable minimum. Groups decide not only what is enough to maintain health and well-being, but also what is needed for social inclusion. This chapter begins with an outline of MIS before exploring what the qualitative data from the research tell us about how people conceptualise socially acceptable living standards. These data also reveal how particular items, opportunities and choices are considered important in enabling individuals to feel socially included and how that has changed over time. The chapter then looks at how this living standard relates to UK household incomes and at the adequacy of income relative to MIS, in the years following the recession. We identify the groups at greatest risk of having inadequate incomes and explore how this risk has changed during a period in which there has been a sustained decline in living standards. In combining qualitative and quantitative findings from a decade of research, this chapter provides rich insight into living standards and their relation to income within the United Kingdom.

Dr. COLLINRIDGE, the Medical Officer of Health to the City of London, had occasion recently to call attention to the diseased condition of certain imported meats, and it is most disquieting to learn that some of these were apparently sent out from the country of origin under official certificates.

Prolonged life expectancy coupled with the retirement of the “post war baby boomers” has resulted in an exponential rise in the 50+ population, peaking in the UK in 2035. Recognising that longevity is often not accompanied by health, mobility or quality of life, the “shifting the balance of care” agenda promotes an integrated care model based around the resident’s home. This study aims to explore the adaptability of the existing social housing stock and how it relates to the requirements and preferences of the ageing population.

This research focuses at the local authority level, with the lead author embedded within North Ayrshire Council to establish the evidence base for their housing strategy for older people. Following a constructivist grounded theory approach, key themes emerge through consultation with a working group, wider stakeholder groups and an iterative review of policy and literature. These themes were explored through an evidence base of available health and housing datasets, and a questionnaire survey of 1,500+ people aged 50+ exploring housing preferences and needs for older people; six focus groups split between residents and social housing providers and stakeholder interviews.

The scale and acute nature of the problem facing social housing providers is highlighted and reveals an alarming information gap within housing data sets, exposing an in-balance between the supply and demand and realising the cost implications for adapting the housing stock.

It is important to resolve this information gap to develop the social housing stock to respond to preferences and establish solutions appropriate for its residents.

This work strengthens calls for a cohesive and integrated housing, health and social care system and exposes the challenge of delivering this at a local authority level.