What income do (older) people need at the minimum for social participation?

Belgian reference budgets for social participation Bérénice Storms AGE, Brussels, 6-10-2012 What income do (older) people need at the minimum for social participation?

Social participation Playing adeqately social roles common expectations to social positions Tobelong • To contribute

Preconditions to social participation

Reference budgets as guidelines to enable full participation of all citizens in society

Reference budgets: adequate means for need statisfaction • Not one (absolute) minimum ! • Necessary income depends on necessary expenses • Vary with individual and social living conditions • Two extremes : • To assess a minimum budget needed by well-informed people and competent persons who are in perfect health • To assess a level of resources that will be sufficient for people in all kinds of circumstances

Reference budgets developed by experts and citizens • Role of experts: • Translating needs into concrete goods and services and pricing them • Starting as much as possible from a normative (≠ prescriptive!) point of view • ≠ real budgets • =model budgets, accepted by citizens and politicians • Showing the way to an inclusive society • Strengthening competences • Ensuring access to rights

Reference budgets developed by experts and citizens • Role of citizens: • Helping experts to translate needs into concrete goods and services • Ensure feasibility • Are assumptions made by experts realistic? • Ensure acceptability • Method: Focus groups • Better than (survey or in-depth) interviews: valuable interaction effects between participants

Rules of thumb: • Criteria for inclusion into the basket: essential for adequately playing social roles • Transparency • Flexibility • Long-term budgets • Sustainability

Composition of focus groups • Methodologically: • Homogenous FG • Income position • Household composition • Living circumstances • Theoretically: • Mixed groups •  Further research is needed

Developing cross-national reference budgets: Common start • Geographical scale: Nation-region-city? • Family types: • Household composition • Living conditions • Housing situation : (out-right) owner, (social )tenant • In good health? • In need of help? • Pricing • Limited number of retailers • Median, low prices? • Choice! • Life span?

Valorisation of Belgian reference budgets • Reference budgets can be used for: • Determining additional income support, settling income maintenance, debt rescheduling, financial education/debt prevention; • Measuring poverty; • Encouraging politicians to work towards a socially inclusive society.

Belgian Reference budgets and minimum incomesfor the elderly, 2012

Thank you for your attention! Berenice.storms@khk.be BereniceML.storms@ua.ac.be

What income do (older) people need at the minimum for social participation?