Substanceoriented child indicators

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Substance-oriented child indicators

• Standard budgets as policy measures

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Pure science vs. policy

• Two principally different types of indicators
• monitoring devices
• - income poverty
• - utility based equivalence scales
  childrens needs relative
• to that of adults
• indicators as input in policy
• - classical poverty lines
• - standard budgets

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Income poverty
European Union in risk of poverty 60 percent of
the median income. Crucial question why 60
percent? Why not 50, 45, 70 or 45,7 of the
median? Answer research on income inequality
identifies some important characteristic of
individuals and households with an income
below the threshold But We have little
knowledge of the material welfare among
individuals/households with income on 60
percent We know little about the effects of
changing the poverty line
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Case of Norway

• Poverty 50 percent of median income over a 3
  year period
• as the former EU definition. Change from 50 to
  60 percent implies
• that pensioners with the minimum pension are
  defined as poor.
• Consequences
• - politically unacceptable,
• - offending public opinion
• - disagreement among social scientist and other
  expert
• whether or not people on minimum old age
  pension should
• be characterized as poor.

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Pros et cons Income poverty

• is suitable to monitor the development of
  poverty (inequality)
• over time
• is a efficient measure for cross-country
  comparison
• high scientific legitimacy, low political
  legitimacy
• statistically precise but in real life almost
  useless lack of content
• not a good measure to define how much income
  families
• need to be out of poverty
• rejects normative implications of
  non-substantive indicators
• hence useless to define normative levels of
  living, e.g.
• poverty (utility based scales)
• hides normative implications in pure
  statistical measures
• treats income as independent variable
• treats childrens needs as relative to the needs
  of adults

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Measures as input for policy

• Classical economics and poverty research have
  always argued for
• a material approach to levels of living Income
  is treated as a
• depended variable, and not the other way around.
• In line with the classical tradition we have to
  ask some important
• questions before we decide the poverty line.
• - What do families/children need?
• - What types of items (consumer goods) and
  activities can satisfy
• these needs?
• - How much does it cost to buy these items and
  participate
• in these activities (consumption expenditure)?
• - What income level equals this consumption
  level?

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Standard budget

• In every society there exist
• a certain minimum of possessions in order for
  the family to meet the cultural definition of a
  family. This list of goods of course varies in
  accordance with value changes.This list -
  described under the term
• standard package - is relatively invariant in
  the face of moderate income changes. Its
  acquisition is the culturally defined goal of the
  family as consuming unit. (Parsons Smelser
  1956 222)

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The different aspects of being a child

• Being referring to the situation here and now.
  They are vulnerable and subordinated their
  parents economy.
• Becoming children are developing and their
  conditions for development influence their
  future.
• Childrens current and future needs
• Different phases new activities and challenges
  and new consumption

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Modern childhood

• Commercialized things and activities cost
  money
• The need for fitting in and joining in.
• Children in poor families experience social
  exclusion.
• The standard budget is a means whereby the child
  is seen as an individual who shall fit in and
  join the social world of their peers - today as
  well as in the future.

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Standard budget Leisure

• Child 4-6 years
• Sports equipment
• Bicycle, rucksack, thermos,
• sledding board
• Safety equipment
• Life west, helmet, childrens car seat
• Game/play
• Ludo, jigsaw, cards
• Drawing
• Crayons, drawing pad, colorings book, water
  colors
• Entertainment
• 2 books, comics, audio book,
• song book
• Other things
• Football, doll, dolls pram, dolls clothes, toy
  cars

• Child 11-14 years
• Sports equipment
• Bicycle, sports bag, ski, rucksack, backpack,
  thermos, sleeping bag
• Safety equipment
• Life west, helmet
• Games/play
• Play station, construction set
• Drawing
• Felt pens
• Entertainment
• 3 books, 2 CDs 6 cinema tickets
• Other things
• Football, mobile phone
• Activities
• Membership in one paid activity with necessary
  equipment, activity group excursions

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A normative model

• Public standards
• Nutrition
• Health
• Education
• Housing
• Public norms
• Housing conditions
• Education

• Empirical consumption
• Consumer expenditure survey
• Buying behavior
• Consumption pattern
• Consumption culture
• Participation/activities
• Home
• Leisure
• Work
• Culture

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Important assumptions (1)

• items are used as a method for expression of
  consumption expenditure. The item list is not
  published
• both daily and infrequent expenses
• a reasonable consumption level that gives room
  for participation in common social activities
• selection of items that are connected to regular
  functions in a household
• all items are bought in shops typically season
  and/or sale prices is not part of the budget

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The standard budget does not include

• housing costs
• tobacco and alcohol
• education
• health care
• expensive, outfit extensive leisure activities
• gift giving and major celebrations (ex. weddings)

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Important assumptions (2)

• Long term budget
• Implications the expenditure is calculated
• (1) for households that already have a
  reasonable consumption level
• (2) that households should be able to maintain
  the consumption level
• (3) households with a consumption expenditure
  below this level need in a limited period of
  time income above this level to reach a
  reasonable level of consumption expenditure
  (the extra cost of being poor)

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Major principles food

• Division of age/gender group after Nordic
  nutritional recommendations
• Selecting quantities that satisfy the
  recommendations
• Selecting foodstuff that is widely eaten and that
  are tasty and have a necessary variety
• Selecting specific goods/brands and groceries for
  price recording
• 28 days dinner menu
• Calculating the budget mean price per
  kilo/liter, correcting for wastage for
  different section of the population

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Minimum standard of consumption (?)

• Changing the assumption of long time budget and
  implication (2) households should be able to
  maintain the consumption level.
• Action remove items with long durableness
  furniture, household goods
• Implications
• (A) Household must initially be on a
  reasonable consumption level
• (B) Reduce the consumption expenditure on the
  remaining consumption areas