EUR
STG
The contents of the MESL baskets are periodically reviewed with deliberative focus groups, to ensure they continue to reflect a social consensus on what is required to enable an acceptable minimum standard of living.
The most recently reviewed MESL baskets are available here.
Previous iterations of the MESL baskets, from 2011 onwards, are available below.
The baskets detail the minimum requirements of each household type, providing an itemised breakdown of the costed goods and services required for a socially acceptable minimum standard of living.
Details are provided for each item, including quantity required and expected lifespan in weeks, the unit price and weekly cost are also included. The weekly cost of each item is calculated by dividing the unit cost of the number of items required by the number of weeks it is expected to last. For example an adults winter coat is expected to last two years, therefore its unit price is divided by 104 (the number of weeks in two years) to arrive at the weekly expenditure required to enable the purchase of this item.
The MESL data is focused on single family-unit households, households comprised of either a single adult or a couple, and any dependent children. This covers approximately 85% of household compositions in urban and rural Ireland.
The MESL establishes the minimum needs of six broad household types:
For households with children, the minimum needs are established for four distinct stages of childhood, and further adjustments for families with three and four children are also provided. The full household budget for a household with children is compiled by combining the parental budget, child age-group budget(s) and if required the adjustments for a third and fourth child.