Petition · past parliament
Government to adopt a single comprehensive measure of poverty as standard
Closed
768 signatures
What the petition asks
Government does not have an official standard measure of poverty and currently uses measures based simply on mean income.
This is not an accurate measure of poverty. We demand parliament legislate to adopt a comprehensive measurement similar to or the same as Social Metrics Commission measure.
This is not an accurate measure of poverty. We demand parliament legislate to adopt a comprehensive measurement similar to or the same as Social Metrics Commission measure.
The current government measure of poverty uses 4 different measures based simply on mean income.
Considering stagnated wages, rising costs, homelessness rising, impact on disabled people, rising childcare costs, overcrowded housing etc. These issues should always be taken into account when measuring poverty, not just a mean income.
We, therefore, think this parliament should legislate adopt the same as or similar to the Social Metrics Commission new measurement of poverty as a set standard. (see below)
http://socialmetricscommission.org.uk/MEASURING-POVERTY-SUMMARY-REPORT.pdf
Considering stagnated wages, rising costs, homelessness rising, impact on disabled people, rising childcare costs, overcrowded housing etc. These issues should always be taken into account when measuring poverty, not just a mean income.
We, therefore, think this parliament should legislate adopt the same as or similar to the Social Metrics Commission new measurement of poverty as a set standard. (see below)
http://socialmetricscommission.org.uk/MEASURING-POVERTY-SUMMARY-REPORT.pdf
Timeline
| 3 Dec 2018 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 3 Jun 2019 | Closed to new signatures |
Key facts
Signatures
768
Status
Closed
Opened
3 Dec 2018
Closed
3 Jun 2019
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.