The percentage of households falling below society's minimum standard of living has increased from 14% to 33% over the last 30 years, despite the size of the economy doubling. This is one of the stark findings from the largest study of poverty and deprivation ever conducted in the UK.

In Scotland today, when we compare people's actual living standards with the minimum standards which the public thinks everyone should have, we find that:

• almost one million people cannot afford adequate housing conditions
• 800,000 people are too poor to engage in common social activities, and
• over a quarter of a million children and adults aren't properly fed

The survey shows that people in Scotland have the same view of what the minimum standard of living should be as those in the rest of the UK.

Read the press release, available to download below, and visit the Conference area for copies of the presentations and findings.