Unfortunately, data are not always available to meet all of these criteria, and researchers often have to make compromises. Moreover, it is important that each budget item be specific to family size and composition, work status of adults, and regional variations. Are transportation costs based on public transit, car travel, or both? How many bedrooms does a four-person family need? Does the lowest-cost child care meet basic needs? Is television a basic necessity, or savings for emergencies? In other words, the selection and costing of items raises a host of conceptual and methodological issues, which are discussed in this study. This straightforward approach may not be as straightforward as it sounds, however. First, they identify budget items necessary for a working family to maintain a safe and decent standard of living, then determine how much it costs to provide each item at an adequate level. These budgets, examined in this study, have been a useful tool in a number of policy debates surrounding working poverty, including welfare reform, the living wage, and job training initiatives, and they address and in many ways overcome the inadequacies of the official poverty thresholds as measures of well-being.īasic family budgets use a market-basket approach.
In recent years, with the introduction of welfare reform and renewed interest in working poverty, advocates around the country have developed what are called “basic family budgets,” which attempt to measure the amount of income families require to meet their basic needs. Making Ends Meet: How Much Does It Cost to Raise a Family in California?Īppendix 2: Transportation and Health Care Calculations for Baltimore, 1998Īppendix 3: Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) The Cost of Living in Minnesota: The Job Gap Study Making It Day-to-Day: A New Family Income Standard for ArkansasĮstimating a Basic Needs Budget for Indiana FamiliesĮconomic Self-Sufficiency: A Michigan Benchmark Living on the Edge: Women Working and Providing for Families in the Maine Economy
Meeting the Monthly Budget: Earnings and the Cost of Living in Rural Kentucky Wider Opportunities for Women: The Self-Sufficiency Standardīasic Costs of Living Budget: Pittsburgh and Allegheny CountyĮconomic Self-Sufficiency: The Minimum Cost of Family Support in Nebraska, 1994 Conclusion: The Policy Implications of Basic Family Budgetsīasic Needs Budgets (A Budget-Based Poverty Measurement) A Sample Family Budget for Baltimore, Md. Expenditure Data From the Consumer Expenditure Survey Comparison of Shares Spent on Basic Needs Items Items for Inclusion in a Basic Family Budget Conceptual Issues in Constructing a Basic Needs Budget Implications of Family Budgets for Public Policy
#AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD BUDGET FOR A FAMILY OF 4 PDF#
This book’s executive summary is available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format Basic Family Budgets for Working Families
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