Authors: Andrea Finney (Social Research and Statistics)
Funded by: The MS Society
Published by: University of Bristol / Social Research and Statistics
Publication date: February 2020

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a neurological condition which can cause significant disability and be life-limiting. The MS Society has identified poverty as a problem which is both more likely in the context of an MS diagnosis and makes living with MS even harder. Moreover, they believe that more people with MS may be living in poverty in the UK than before as a result of social policy reforms.

This report synthesises the available evidence to understand the prevalence and nature of the experience of poverty among people with MS, the role policy has played in this landscape and the further implications it has for the lives of people affected by MS (as individuals with MS, their families or their carers) as well as the costs to the NHS and wider society.

This report also considers the implications of the way in which poverty is measured on how we understand the exposure and experiences of poverty among people affected by MS and makes recommendations for how best ‘poverty’ should be measured in this context in the future.