Different Methods, Different Standards? A Comparison of Two Finnish Reference Budgets

According to Principle 14 of the European Pillar of Social Rights, everyone should have the right to adequate minimum income benefits that ensure a life in dignity. Reference budgets have been proposed to monitor this principle. Reference budgets are priced baskets of goods and services that represent a given living standard. At the moment, no common methodology for constructing reference budgets exists; instead, different methods are used to construct them. This study sought to compare the approaches and results of two Finnish reference budgets: one created by the Centre for Consumer Society Research (CCSR), and the second by the ImPRovE project. The purpose of the article is to respond to a gap in existing literature around how different methods for constructing reference budgets impact their outcomes. The two reference budgets offer a strong basis for comparison because they both sought to capture the same living standard in the same context for similar household types (single woman, single man, heterosexual couple, and heterosexual couple with two children), while using different approaches. The results suggest that the two reference budgets arrive at different estimates of what is needed for social participation. Ultimately, we found that the most significant differences between the budgets were housing and mobility costs for the couple with two children due to differences in information bases, selection criteria, evaluators, and pricing. The study makes a significant contribution to the literature because it is one of the first to explore how different approaches to constructing reference budgets affect their outcomes. The results suggest that clear criteria for constructing reference budgets are needed to monitor Principle 14 of the European Pillar of Social Rights.

Relationality and linked lives during transitions to parenthood in Europe: an analysis of institutionally framed work-care divisions

This article ties together key findings from a 12-year cross-national qualitative collaboration that involved researchers from nine European countries. Our comparative analysis draws on longitudinal heterosexual couple data, in which both partners were interviewed first, during pregnancy, and second, between six months and two-and-a-half years after childbirth. We tackle the relational ties that shape family practices from a lifecourse perspective, emphasising the interdependent construction of motherhood and fatherhood identities, couples’ institutional embeddedness and linked lives. Analysing the data by combining the relationality and lifecourse perspectives brings forth how women and men enact agency in a constrained environment while making consequential decisions about their own, their partners’ and children’s futures. Whereas the gender culture provides parents with arguments and discourses to motivate their work-care plans, the policy context limits how new parents interact as they seek to escape or cope with institutionally prescribed gender divisions of work and care.

My questions about emotionally focused couple therapy (EFT) and a few answers

This article provides a brief overview of emotionally focused couple therapy (EFT) along with some reservations about the method. The article considers questions and critiques which are often raised about the model and does so from the point of view of a practitioner new to the method, who has become convinced of the value of the approach whilst not wanting to jettison an object relations understanding. The segregation between different groups of attachment researchers and practitioners is noted. To provide variation I occasionally use the term "marital" but I do so loosely, referring to a couple bond rather than to a wedded pair. The systemic pattern between a pursuer and a withdrawer which is discussed here could refer to a same-sex or a heterosexual couple, despite the different gender alignments which operate in each case.

ENTRE ENCUENTRO Y DESENCUENTRO: TEMPORALIDAD EN TERAPIA DE PAREJA

The objective of this work is to understand a clinical process of systemic orientation from the perspective of subjective temporality. The work is based on the theory of subjective time and considers its historical and sociocultural dimension, reviewing its main theoretical constructs that will understand couple relationships and therapeutic processes. A clinical case was analyzed a from the perspective of subjective temporality, based on the main antecedents of the case and using clinical vignettes. Participants were a 36- and 37-year-old heterosexual couple who participated in a couple therapy with two therapists trained in systemic therapy for approximately one year. The sessions were videotaped and analyzed through the theory of subjective temporality. The analysis of the subjective temporality constitutes a contribution to the clinical practice, since it allows to understand and to develop an approach centered in the present moment and that allows analyzing the synchrony and encounter of the members of the system.

La renovación de los Códigos Civiles decimonónicos: La supervivencia institucional de la promesa de matrimonio en el Código Civil portugués | The renewal of the decimononic civil codes: The institucional survival of the promise os marriage in the portuguese Civil Code

En el presente estudio analizamos la regulación de la promesa al amparo del CC portugués de 1966 y las implicaciones que comporta para los promitentes. El en texto nos detenemos en el estudio del vigente art. 1.591 CC fruto de la reforma practicada por Lei n. 9/2010, de 31 de maio de 2010 que, aunque se presenta en idénticos términos que el derogado art. 1.591 CC de 1966, lo cierto es que ha suprimido la expresión “de sexo diferente”, equiparando la promesa realizada por pareja heterosexual de la efectuada por pareja homosexual. A continuación, nos ocupamos de los preceptos introducidos por el legislador dedicados: a la regulación en materia de restitución de las donaciones efectuadas a causa de la promesa de matrimonio, en caso de imposibilidad de celebración del futuro vínculo matrimonial [arts. 1.592 y 1.593]. Asimismo, nos detenemos en la obligación de indemnizar [art. 1594 CC] que, aunque no se trata de una disposición innovadora, lo cierto es que se diferencia de los dos preceptos previos en que esta obligación únicamente recae sobre el promitente culpable, mientras que en aquellos otros la obligación de restituir recae indistintamente sobre ambas partes, medie o no “culpa”. También aludimos a las particularidades que presenta este precepto, destacándose: que el alcance de la obligación indemnizatoria sea extensible también a los padres del promitente inocente e, incluso a terceros; la medida del daño resarcible, limitada a los “gastos efectuados” y “obligaciones contraídas” a causa de la promesa y, que la indemnización sea fijada al arbitrio de la autoridad judicial. Para finalizar, analizamos el art. 1.595 CC. Precepto con el que se ha salvado lo concerniente al plazo de la caducidad de las acciones tanto para exigir la obligación de restitución [arts. 1.592 y 1.593 CC], como para la obligación de indemnización [art. 1.594 CC]._________________In the present study we analyze the regulation of the promise under the Portuguese CC of 1966 and the implications that it entails for the promising. In text we stop in the study of current art. 1.591 CC as a result of the reform practiced by Lei n. 9/2010, of May 31, 2010 which, although presented in identical terms as the repealed art. 1.591 CC of 1966, the truth is that it has suppressed the expression “of a different sex”, equating the promise made by a heterosexual couple to that made by a homosexual couple. Next, we take care of the precepts introduced by the legislator dedicated: to the regulation in the matter of restitution of the donations made because of the promise of marriage, in case of impossibility of celebrating the future matrimonial bond [arts. 1.592 and 1.593]. Likewise, we stop in the obligation to indemnify [art. 1.594 CC] that, although it is not an innovative provision, the truth is that it differs from the two previous precepts in that this obligation rests solely with the guilty party, while in those others the obligation to return falls interchangeably on both parties. , whether or not "fault". We also allude to the particularities presented in this precept, highlighting: that the scope of the indemnification obligation is also extensible to the parents of the innocent promiser and even to third parties; the extent of the compensable damage, limited to the “expenses incurred” and “obligations incurred” because of the promise and, that the compensation be set at the discretion of the judicial authority. Finally, we analyze art. 1,595 CC. Except with which it has been saved concerning the term of the expiration of the actions both to demand the obligation of restitution [arts. 1.592 and 1.593 CC], as for the indemnity obligation [art. 1.594 CC].

The Presentation of Donor Conception in Young Adult Fiction

Using a thematic analysis, this study examines the presentation of donor conception in 30 books of fiction written for young adults. Most of the donor-conceived characters in these books live in single mother families, the majority are girls, and most have some kind of status as outsiders. Donor conception is presented differently depending on the type of family in which the teen lives. Children living with single mothers are most often endangered. Children living with lesbian-couple parents are most often marked as outsiders. Among children living with heterosexual-couple parents, donor conception is often presented as a significant issue that can unsettle family dynamics and lead to a search for the donor or donor siblings.