Minimum income standards and reference budgets: past, present, future?

2020 ◽  
pp. 333-344
Author(s):  
Christopher Deeming
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Standard Of Living ◽  
Minimum Income ◽  
Income Adequacy ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
Reference Budgets

This chapter summarizes the enduring relevance and value of reference budget research. It looks into the approach for establishing adequacy benchmarks and minimum income standards that can help guide the development of national, regional and global social policy. It also emphasizes how the overall minimum budget should attempt to support a specified standard of living. The chapter addresses questions on which commodities or items are required to satisfy “needs” and “necessities” and where can these items be purchased and how much are they likely to cost. It reviews methodological approaches that are often combined in various ways in order to define or benchmark income adequacy.

scholarly journals Comparing the Minimum Income Standard in the UK and Japan: Methodology and Outcome

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abigail Davis ◽  
Donald Hirsch ◽  
Rie Iwanaga ◽  
Masami Iwata ◽  
Junko Shigekawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
International Comparisons ◽  
Living Standards ◽  
Standard Of Living ◽  
Minimum Income ◽  
The Public ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Income Adequacy ◽  
Societal Norms ◽  
Innovative Methodology ◽  
The Uk

Minimum Income Standard (MIS) research involves an innovative methodology that combines consensual decisions made through discussion by members of the public, supported by input from experts. MIS addresses questions about income adequacy, and in particular, what is the income that people need in order to reach a minimum socially acceptable standard of living. The first MIS for Britain was published in the UK in 2008, and in 2010 researchers from Japan and the UK began to collaborate on developing a comparable Minimum Income Standard for Japan. This article discusses the differences and similarities between the UK and Japanese MIS. It looks at the challenges of applying the methodology in a very different setting and compares the results of the research in the UK and in Japan. Although there are notable differences in the lists of goods and services that comprise the budgets, there are also some striking similarities. This research suggests that the MIS methodology offers an approach that can be used in different countries to inform discussions on contemporary living standards and societal norms, and to enable international comparisons to be drawn.

ERRATUM

2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. i-i
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Standard Of Living ◽  
Correct Spelling

Social Policy & Society 6(1) January 2007We apologise for the following mistake in the authorship of the article by Paddy Hillyard, Demi Patsios & Fiona Scullion, 2007, ‘A Daughter to ELSI – NILSI: A Northern Ireland Standard of Living Index or Problematising Wealth in the Analysis of Inequality and Material Well-being’.The correct spelling is ‘Scullion’ and not ‘Sevllion’ (as printed).

scholarly journals Modern social policy of the Russian Federation in relation to low-income citizens and families

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3B) ◽  
pp. 604-620
Author(s):  
Dina Viktorovna Alontseva ◽  
Irina Aleksandrovna Zaitseva ◽  
Alexander Yevgenyevich Krikunov ◽  
Olga Anatolyevna Lavrishcheva ◽  
Sergey Sergeevich Fomenko
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Living Alone ◽  
Standard Of Living ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Low Income Families ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Objective Indicators ◽  
Comprehensive Study

In this article, the authors conducted a comprehensive study of the main directions of the modern social policy of the Russian Federation in relation to low-income citizens living alone and low-income families. Namely, based on the analysis of doctrinal sources, the provisions of international acts and the norms of the current Russian legislation: we formulated the definition of the concept of "poor"; justified the opinion that it is necessary to use a set of objective indicators and indicators to determine a decent standard of living. The identified problems and the proposed system of scientific views significantly expand the previously obtained theoretical teachings on the types and forms of state social support and protection of low-income families and low-income citizens living alone, considering the realities of modern politics and trends in the development of the Russian Federation.

The steep and winding road to comparable reference budgets in Europe

2020 ◽  
pp. 255-270
Author(s):  
Tim Goedemé
Keyword(s):  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Social Indicators ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Income Adequacy ◽  
Protection Systems ◽  
Social Protection Systems ◽  
Reference Budgets

This chapter discusses Tim Goedemé's cross-national research work in order to establish reference budgets for EU member states and facilitate the European Commission's (EC) task of monitoring income adequacy in Europe. It focuses on the “Improving Poverty Reduction in Europe” (ImPRovE) project that worked closely with six country teams based in Antwerp, Athens, Barcelona, Budapest, Helsinki and Milan. It also looks into the development of more comprehensive reference budgets that span all expenditures needs in both food and non-food. The chapter reflects on the key lessons and contributions from the ImPRovE project and discusses some of the issues on establishing a common language and “standardized” approach. It suggests how approaches on reference budgets strengthen EU social protection systems and social indicators and provide new sociological insights into European societies and public attitudes.

Establishing a national standard: the role of the UK’s Minimum Income Standard in policy and practice

2020 ◽  
pp. 307-318
Author(s):  
Donald Hirsch
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Strong Influence ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
National Standard ◽  
Political Commitment ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Minimum Income ◽  
Policy Debates ◽  
The Uk

This chapter promotes the UK Minimum Income Standards (MIS) as a benchmark in social policy and practice. It explains how the MIS research continues to have a strong influence over social policy debates in Britain and exposes the inadequacy of the national minimum wage that helped fuel the campaign for a “living wage.” It also features MIS as a key element in the new Scottish measure of fuel poverty. The chapter observes how MIS has not been taken up by governments as a standard for setting or targeting minimum incomes in terms of social protection. It observes that it will require a major political commitment to redistribution if the British government were to adopt MIS.

The Slovenian experience with three methods for defining the minimum income

2020 ◽  
pp. 227-240
Author(s):  
Nada Stropnik
Keyword(s):  
Basic Needs ◽  
Minimum Income ◽  
Normative Approach ◽  
Home Appliances ◽  
Food Basket ◽  
Cost Calculations ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Food Share ◽  
Reference Budgets

This chapter examines the Slovenian experience with three methods for defining minimum income standards. It suggests that all three approaches were expert-led, normative, and were intended to cover “basic needs.” It also talks about the approach on developing basic needs for reference budgets from the late 1970s and early 1980s, which was based on expert deliberations and analysis of family expenditure surveys that indicate consumptions patterns. The chapter explains how the food basket was determined by nutrition experts while a normative approach was adopted for heating and lighting, clothing and footwear, home appliances and furniture, and leisure. It discusses the “food-share” method, which is based on the cost calculations for a minimal diet with a proportion added for other non-food necessities.

scholarly journals STATISTICAL ESTIMATION OF BUYING CAPACITY OF SOCIAL STANDARDS IN UKRAINE

2018 ◽  
pp. 116-122
Author(s):  
Alona Khmelyuk
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
System Analysis ◽  
Social Assistance ◽  
Standard Of Living ◽  
Social Benefits ◽  
Optimal Size ◽  
Purchasing Power ◽  
Index Method ◽  
Social Standards

Introduction. The preconditions of formation of a socially oriented economy are considered. It is established that the Constitution of Ukraine guarantees citizens the right to social protection. The Law of Ukraine "On State Social Standards and State Social Guarantees" defines legal principles for the formation and application of state social standards and norms. It is noted that the social policy of the state by legislative acts defines such social guarantees as minimum wages, incomes, pensions, social assistance, size of other types of social benefits, which ensure a standard of living not lower than the subsistence minimum. The apriority analysis of dynamic changes of the amount of social guarantees by type has been carried out. It has found out that the use exceptionally of absolute indicators to estimate the standard of living of the population is inappropriate. It is noted that an increase in the dynamics of consumption and income of the population can testify only to the influence of inflationary processes. The algorithm for calculating the purchasing power of social standards and social guarantees in Ukraine has been worked out on the basis of statistical data concerning social indicators of living standards of the population and indicators of the dynamics of price monitoring for socially meaningful goods. It has been established that social payments provide only one-third of total household expenses, while the state's social policy is not aimed at overcoming the poverty and poverty of the Ukrainian population. Purpose. The article aims to analyse the regulatory framework for regulation and size of social standards and statistical analysis of their level in Ukraine, and develop an algorithm for calculating the purchasing power of social benefits: social assistance at birth and child care, pensions and unemployment benefits. Method (methodology). Method of system analysis, methods of causal analysis, index method, table and graphical methods, dynamic series have been used in this research. Results. Theoretical generalization and practical recommendations development of the optimal size of social standards by calculating the actual costs of a household with one child and the purchasing power index of social standards have become the results of the research.

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