I joined CRSP in 2009 and since this time I have led research relating to living standards, poverty and social exclusion in the UK and abroad, focusing on public conceptions and understanding of living standards, and how these can be used within public policy.
Much of this research has centred around the application and development of Minimum Income Standard (MIS) approach, and I currently lead the quantitative elements of this ongoing work, oversee the management and application of MIS data and play a central role in liaison with users and stakeholders. I lead research on living standards in London and also lead the MIS Global Network, founded in 2018 to support MIS work across the globe, establish links with researchers in other countries and develop new collaborative projects. I deliver training in the MIS approach and its application internationally and have worked with colleagues on MIS projects in Portugal, South Africa, Mexico, Singapore and Thailand. I have a particular interest in exploring the application of the MIS approach in the global South.
I have pioneered work on Retirement Living Standards, building on the established MIS programme, that has been adopted across the UK pensions industry, providing an evidence base for savers thinking about and planning their retirements.
As an experienced qualitative and quantitative researcher, I have also worked on a wide range of other projects including national policy evaluations, secondary data analysis of large UK surveys and in-depth qualitative research with low-income households and individuals. I have advised and consulted for a wide range of organisations, including Birmingham City Council, the Money and Pensions Service, Oxfam and Unite the Union. My principal research interests are in understanding the patterns, causes and consequences of social disadvantage, particularly with regard to income, and my research has included work on living standards and income adequacy, housing affordability, poverty measurement and international conceptions of living standards.
Selected publications
- Blackwell, C., Padley, M., Ellis, W., Balchin, E., Stone, J., Robinson, E. and Davis, A. (2026) A Minimum Income Standard for London 2025. London: Trust for London.
- Robinson, E., Stone, J. and Padley, M. (2026) Households living below a Minimum Income Standard: 2008–2024. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
- Stone, J. and Padley, M. (2025) A Minimum Income Standard for the United Kingdom in 2025. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation
- Hill, K., Padley, M. and Freeman, J. (2025) A Minimum Income Standard for Students. London: Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI)
- Thomas, M., Rose, P., Coneyworth, L., Harvey, J., Goulding, J., Stone, J., Padley, M., O'Reilly, P. and Welham, S. (2025) Food insecurity amongst Universal Credit claimants: the Benefits and Nutrition Study (BEANS), a cross-sectional online study. European Journal of Nutrition 64(115) https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-025-03596-y
- Padley, M. and Davis, A. (2025) A life in dignity for all? UK social security support, income adequacy and minimum living standards under austerity, 2008–2023. Journal of Poverty and Social Justice. Bristol University Press. DOI: 10.1332/17598273Y2024D000000036
- Padley, M. (2024) Apprenticeships, Child Benefit and Universal Credit: exploring the impact of eligibility criteria on living standards and income adequacy. London: Youth Futures Foundation.
- Padley, M., Blackwell, C., Davis, A., Hill, K. and Stone, J. (2024) Retirement living standards in the UK in 2023. London: Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association
- Padley, M. and Davis, A. (2023) The Minimum Income Standard: Understanding the cost of education to households in the UK. London: Child Poverty Action Group
- Hirsch, D., Concialdi, P., Math, A., Padley, M., Pereira, E., Pereirinha, J., and Thornton, R. (2020) The Minimum Income Standard and equivalisation: Reassessing relative costs of singles and couples and of adults and children. Journal of Social Policy, 1-20. doi:10.1017/S0047279419001004
- Hirsch, D., Padley, M., Stone, J. and Valadez-Martinez, L. Social Indicators Research. The Low Income Gap: A New Indicator Based on a Minimum Income Standard. (2020) DOI 10.1007/s11205-019-02241-6
- Padley, M. and Shepherd, C. (2019) Developing Retirement Living Standards. London: The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association.
- Padley, M. and Marshall, L. (2018) Defining and measuring housing affordability using the Minimum Income Standard, Housing Studies, DOI: 10.1080/02673037.2018.1538447
- Davis, A., Hirsch, D., Padley, M. and Shepherd, C. (2018) A Minimum Income Standard for the UK, 2008-2018: continuity and change. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
- O'Connell, R., Owen, C., Padley, M., Simon, A., and Brannen, J. (2018) 'Which Types of Family are at Risk of Food Poverty in the UK? A Relative Deprivation Approach', Social Policy and Society. doi:10.1017/S1474746418000015
- Valadez-Martínez, L., Padley, M. and Torres Penagos, M.F. (2017) ‘A dignified standard of living in Mexico: results of a pilot study of the Minimum Income Standard approach’, Social Indicators Research. doi:10.1007/s11205-017-1780-4
- Davis, A., Hirsch, D. and Padley, M. (2017) ‘The Minimum Income Standard as a benchmark of a ‘participatory social minimum’’, Journal of Poverty and Social Justice. doi:10.1332/175982717X15087736009278
- Padley, M. and Hirsch, D. (2013) Households below a Minimum Income Standard: 2008/09 to 2010/11. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
- Davis, A., Hirsch, D., Smith, N., Beckhelling, J. and Padley, M. (2012) A Minimum Income Standard for the UK in 2012. Keeping up in hard times. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.