[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wop/sprcdp/0093.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Using Budget Standards to Assess the Well-Being of Families

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Saunders
Abstract
This paper describes the methods used by the Budget Standards Unit at the Social Policy Research Centre to develop a set of indicative budget standards for a range of Australian households. Some of the results from the project are then compared with estimates of actual household expenditures derived from the Household Expenditure Survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The sensitivity of budget standards to some of the key assumptions and judgements made in developing them is illustrated in two examples: housing costs and spatial variations in prices. The paper concludes that one important contribution that budget standards research can make to the discussion of the adequacy of household incomes is in providing a transparent framework for selecting items needed to maintain a particular standard of living and translating them through prices into the budgets required to purchase them.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Saunders, 1998. "Using Budget Standards to Assess the Well-Being of Families," Discussion Papers 0093, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    • Handle: RePEc:wop:sprcdp:0093
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/dp/dp093.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter Saunders, 1994. "Rising on the Tasman Tide: Income Inequality in Australia and New Zealand in the 1980s," Discussion Papers 0049, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    2. Peter Saunders & Michael Fine, 1992. "The Mixed Economy of Support for the Aged in Australia: Lessons for Privatisation," Discussion Papers 0036, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    3. repec:bla:revinw:v:39:y:1993:i:3:p:229-56 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Bruce Bradbury, 1993. "Unemployment And Income Support: Challenges For The Years Ahead," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 12(2), pages 14-31, June.
    5. Peter Saunders & Peter Whiteford, 1990. "Compensating Low Income Groups for Indirect Tax Reform," Discussion Papers 0021, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    6. Peter Whiteford, 1992. "Are Immigrants Over-represented in the Australian Social Security System?," Discussion Papers 0031, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    7. Peter Saunders, 1993. "Married Women's Earnings and Family Income Inequality in the Eighties," Discussion Papers 0040, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    8. Saunders, P. & Bradbury, B., 1991. "Some Australian Evidence on the Consensual Approach to Poverty Measurement," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 47-78.
    9. Peter Saunders & Helen Stott & Garry Hobbes, 1991. "Income Inequality In Australia And New Zealand: International Comparisons And Recent Trends," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 37(1), pages 63-79, March.
    10. Gerry Redmond, 1999. "Incomes, incentives and the growth of means-testing in Hungary," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 20(1), pages 77-99, March.
    11. Cathy Boland, 1989. "A Comparative Study of Home and Hospital Births: Scientific and Normative Values and their Effects," Discussion Papers 0012, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    12. Russell Ross, 1988. "The Labour Market Position of Aboriginal People in Non-Metropolitan New South Wales," Discussion Papers 001, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    13. Peter Saunders & George Matheson, 1991. "Sole parent families in Australia," International Social Security Review, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(3), pages 51-75, July.
    14. Peter Saunders, 1994. "The Role, Value and Limitations of Poverty Research," Discussion Papers 0053, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    15. Sheila Shaver, 1992. "Body Rights, Social Rights and the Liberal Welfare State," Discussion Papers 0038, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    16. Peter Saunders & Garry Hobbes, 1988. "Income Inequality in Australia in an International Comparative Perspective," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 21(3), pages 25-34, September.
    17. Peter Whiteford, 1995. "The use of replacement rates in international comparisons of benefit systems," International Social Security Review, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(2), pages 3-30, April.
    18. Peter Whiteford, 1988. "Taxation and Social Security: An Overview," Discussion Papers 003, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    19. Peter Saunders & George Matheson, 1991. "An Ever-Rising Tide? Poverty in Australia in the Eighties," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 2(2), pages 143-171, December.
    20. Bruce Bradbury, 1989. "The 'Family Package' and the Cost of Children," Discussion Papers 0010, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    21. Bruce Bradbury, 1988. "Family Size Equivalence Scales and Survey Evaluation of Income and Well-Being," Discussion Papers 005, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    22. Peter Saunders & George Matheson, 1991. "An Ever-Rising Tide? Poverty in Australia in the Eighties," Discussion Papers 0030, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    23. Peter Saunders & Johan Fritzell, 1995. "Wage and Income Inequality in Two Welfare States: Australia and Sweden," Discussion Papers 0060, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gary Marks, 2005. "Dynamics of Financial Disadvantage," Agenda - A Journal of Policy Analysis and Reform, Australian National University, College of Business and Economics, School of Economics, vol. 12(4), pages 309-322.
    2. Lars Osberg, 2001. "Needs and Wants: What is Social Progress and How Should it be Measured," The Review of Economic Performance and Social Progress, in: Andrew Sharpe, Executive Director & France St-Hilaire, Vice-President , Research & Keith Banting, Di (ed.), The Review of Economic Performance and Social Progress 2001: The Longest Decade: Canada in the 1990s, volume 1, Centre for the Study of Living Standards;The Institutute for Research on Public Policy.
    3. Tess Penne & Irene Cussó Parcerisas & Lauri Mäkinen & Bérénice Storms & Tim Goedemé, 2016. "Can reference budgets be used as a poverty line?," ImPRovE Working Papers 16/05, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    4. James Cox, 2002. "The Poverty Line Revisited," Agenda - A Journal of Policy Analysis and Reform, Australian National University, College of Business and Economics, School of Economics, vol. 9(2), pages 99-111.
    5. Matthew Gray & David Stanton, 2010. "Costs of children and Equivalence Scales: A Review of Methodological Issues and Australian Estimates," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 13(1), pages 99-115.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bruce Bradbury, 1999. "Tax Theory and Targeting: A Survey," Discussion Papers 00100, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    2. Tony Eardley & Peter Saunders & Ceri Evans, 2000. "Community Attitudes Towards Unemployment, Activity Testing and Mutual Obligation," Discussion Papers 00107, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    3. Peter Saunders & Cathy Thomson & Ceri Evans, 2000. "Social Change and Social Policy: Results from a Survey of Public Opinion," Discussion Papers 00106, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    4. Peter Whiteford, 1995. "The use of replacement rates in international comparisons of benefit systems," International Social Security Review, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(2), pages 3-30, April.
    5. Gerry Redmond, 1999. "Tax-benefit Policies and Parents' Incentives to Work: The Case of Australia 1980-1997," Discussion Papers 00104, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    6. Peter Saunders, 1998. "Global Pressures, National Responses: The Australian Welfare State in Context," Discussion Papers 0090, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    7. Sheila Shaver & Michael Fine, 1995. "Social Policy and Personal Life: Changes in State, Family and Community in the Support of Informal Care," Discussion Papers 0065, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    8. A. B. Atkinson & Andrew Leigh, 2005. "The Distribution of Top Incomes in New Zealand," CEPR Discussion Papers 503, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    9. Peter Saunders, 1997. "Developing Policy Planning and Research Capabilities in the Asia Pacific," Discussion Papers 0078, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    10. Bruce Bradbury, 1996. "Are the Low Income Self-employed Poor?," Discussion Papers 0073, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    11. Peter Saunders, 1995. "Improving Work Incentives in a Means-Tested Welfare System: The 1994 Australian Social Security Reforms," Discussion Papers 0056, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    12. Peter Saunders, 1997. "Poverty, Choice and Legitimacy," Discussion Papers 0076, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    13. Peter Saunders, 1993. "Economic Adjustment and Distributional Change: Income Inequality and Poverty in Australia in the Eighties," Discussion Papers 0047, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    14. Marilyn McHugh & Jane Millar, 1996. "Sole Mothers in Australia: Supporting Mothers to Seek Work," Discussion Papers 0071, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    15. Tony Eardley & George Matheson, 1999. "Australian Attitudes to Unemployment and Unemployed People," Discussion Papers 00102, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    16. Bruce Bradbury, 1992. "The Welfare Interpretation of Family Size Equivalence Scales," Discussion Papers 0037, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    17. Marilyn McHugh, 1999. "The Costs of Children: Budget Standards Estimates and the Child Support Scheme," Discussion Papers 00103, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    18. Michael Fine, 1999. "The Responsibility for Child and Aged Care: Shaping Policies for the Future," Discussion Papers 00105, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    19. Melanie Henwood, 1999. "Home and Away: Reflections on Long-term Care in the UK and Australia," Discussion Papers 00101, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    20. Peter Saunders, 1998. "Defining Poverty and Identifying the Poor: Reflections on the Australian Experience," Discussion Papers 0084, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wop:sprcdp:0093. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Thomas Krichel (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/spnswau.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.