£13,400 is 'minimum income' a single Briton needs to earn - report

A single person living in Britain needs to earn at least £13,400 a year before tax to afford a basic but acceptable standard of living, according to a report.

The "minimum income" is enough to cover needs such as food and warmth, as well as the occasional film ticket and simple meal out, according to a panel questioned for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

The panellists, from a range of households and on varying incomes, were helped by experts to make sure the budget provided an adequate diet and enough warmth to remain healthy.

The study found that a single person without children needed to spend £158 a week, while a couple with two children needed £370 a week. The figures did not include rent or mortgage.

To afford this budget on top of rent on a modest council home, a single person would need to earn £13,400 a year before tax and the couple with two children £26,800.

The report said families without a working adult received about two thirds of the minimum budget in state benefits.

Single people without work received less than half of the minimum budget in benefits.

The basic state pension gives a retired couple about three quarters of the minimum income, but claiming the means-tested Pension Credit could top their income up to just above the minimum standard, the report said.

The study found that almost everybody classified as being in poverty had an income too low to pay for an "adequate" standard of living as defined by the panellists.

However, those questioned agreed that the minimum living standard should provide for more than survival, with one woman saying: "Food and shelter keeps you alive, it doesn't make you live."