The paper and presentation, presented to the Northern Ireland Assembly on 26 April 2012, report the findings of the Necessities of Life survey 2011 in Northern Ireland. The survey found a remarkable degree of consensus in respondents’ attitudes to necessities, between social groups and categories across income, occupation, community background and gender; though there are some significant differences, especially between young and old.

The results show that what most people think are necessities leads to a different set of indicators than those built into current deprivation rates (such as the EU measure). Mike Tomlinson’s contribution can be seen on the Northern Ireland Assembly website.