Citizens Advice Data Insights: Measures of Hardship

Join us for our February Data Insights event (formally Cost-of-Living data briefing): Measures of Hardship.

Developing a definition and measurement of hardship, grounded in a deep understanding of everyday realities, is crucial for robust and efficient policy making. Without a clear definition, governments risk implementing ineffective policies that fail to address the underlying issues.

The ongoing cost-of-living crisis continues to have a vice-like grip on people's finances, pushing more people than ever before into a negative budget, unable to cover essential living costs with their income. This month's event will show how our unique data on household budgets can be used as an accurate measurement of poverty and hardship, and used to guide the development of transformative policies.

We’ll also show some wider data modelling that goes beyond just the people we help, giving a picture of how the cost-of-living crisis has affected England and Wales as a whole. We’ll discuss how this data can be used to point to policies that will lift people above the red line and avoid decisions that will push people even further below it.

Join us to learn:

• The picture of debt across Great Britain today
• The key drivers of increasing levels of poverty and hardship
• The policy levers that will lift people out of negative budgets
• Explanation of the Citizens Advice “National Red Index” measure of poverty and hardship