THE MINIMUM INCOME STANDARD calculator

Is your income enough to allow a minimum essential standard of living?

The Minimum Income Standard shows the income people need in order to afford the goods and services that members of the public have agreed are a minimum essential for everyone in Ireland to have. This is a minimum standard that people agree no one should live below.

What is the Minimum Income Standard?

Is your income enough to allow a minimum essential standard of living?

The Minimum Income Standard shows the income people need in order to afford the goods and services that members of the public have agreed are a minimum essential for everyone in Ireland to have.

This is a minimum standard that people agree no one should live below.

This calculator allows you to see the minimum for your household type.

By answering a few simple questions the minimum income standard for your household will be calculated. You can then make certain adjustments for your situation.

The calculator is based on a social consensus view of the minimum needs for everyone. It aims to be a universal tool and cannot show what you require for all your individual needs.

What is a Minimum Essential Standard of Living?

Since 2004 the VPSJ has undertaken work establishing the Minimum Essential Standard of Living (MESL) budgets for a variety of household types.

This work establishes a consensus on what members of the public believe is a minimum standard that no individual or household should live below.

Working with focus groups, the minimum goods and services that everyone needs for a MESL are identified.

With a focus on needs not wants, the concern is with more than survival as a MESL is a standard of living which meets physical, psychological and social needs, at a minimum but acceptable level.

A Minimum Income Standard for Ireland, establishes the expenditure and income figures for a broad range of household types; providing the data at the core of this calculator.

Visit www.budgeting.ie for a full description and explanation of the MIS & MESL work.