The Revised Finnish Reference Budgets

Valtiotieteellinen tiedekunta 16.9.2016Consumersociety research centre, Lehtinen& Aalto 1
The Revised Finnish Reference Budgets
Anna-Riitta Lehtinen & Kristiina Aalto
Consumer Society Research Centre, University of Helsinki
TITA 15.-16.9.2016, Turku

www.helsinki.fi/yliopisto
The Reference Budgets
• RB’s are list of goods and services that a family of specified size and
composition would need to live at a designated level of well-being together
with the estimated annual or monthly costs of those goods and services.
• A commodity basket includes all consumption items required to attain and
maintain a certain standard of living.
• First RBs in 2010, updating in 2013 and 2015 by CPI
Aim of the study
1. Revise the contents of existing nine commodity baskets for reference
households
2. Extend the budgets by two reference households
3. Update the prices
16.9.2016Consumer society research centre, Lehtinen & Aalto

Basis for commodity baskets
Starting point of decent minimum RBs
• What kind of consumption is required to maintain individuals’
physical and mental health and provide them the possibility of
full participation in the prevalent way in today’s (Finnish)
society?
Needs, capabilities, participation, consumption:
• Sen’s (1985,1993) capability approach
Ø means and opportunities, central capabilities (Nussbaum 2011)
• A theory of human need by Doyal & Gough (1991)
Ø basic needs, intermediate needs

Compiling Decent Minimum Reference
Budgets
16.9.2016 4Consumer society research centre, Lehtinen & Aalto
• Consumers participate in the development of commody baskets
alongside reseachers and experts.
• Focus group discussions with consumers and experts and
homeworks for consumers; content analysis
• Main stages:
1) defining the content of commodity baskets (consumers),
2) pricing the commodites (researches),
3) evaluating and checking (consumers, experts)

Decent minimum consumption in 2010
• Food: Proper, nutritious food regularly; lunch with colleagues, eating out with family
and friends occasionally; based on food diaries, nutritional recommendations
• Clothing: Decent, suitable for various situations, no second hand, no fashionable
clothing; supermarket prices; women, men and children have separated budgets
• Transport: A possibility to move/travel; regional diffrencies, equality, mainly public
transport; everyone has a bicycle; own car for families with children and rural areas
• Housing, household movables: Rented flat; cosy, functional home, possible to
invite guests
• Information technology: staying informed, managing things, participation,
awareness, to be part of society, a must: self-service (banking, authorities),
ownership: privacy, if not, other costs increases
• Health and hygiene: household members are in good health, everyone should
enhance his/her personal health via exercise, training and nutritional food
• Leisure: possibility to social participation, freedom of choice, childrens’ leisure time

RBs per month in various household types
in 2015
16.9.2016Consumer society research centre, Lehtinen & Aalto 6

Conclusion
• RBs for different reference households which covers all the
essential household expenditures.
• RB is not an exact bordeline but contents and unique contexts:
living patterns, life situations, experiences, knowledge and skills..
RBs have raised
• discussion of decent consumption
• interest of private persons (divorce, living costs).
RBs have used in
• an overall evaluation on the sufficiency of basic benefits in
Finland; every fourth year
• research; carbon footprint calculations
• counselling, loan negations and teaching.

Publications
Lehtinen A-R, Varjonen J, Raijas A, Aalto K (2011) Reference budgets for the decent
minimum standard of living. National Consumer Research Centre. Working papers 132.
https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/152355
Lehtinen A-R, Varjonen J, Raijas A, Aalto K, Pakoma R (2010)
Mitä eläminen maksaa? Kohtuullisen minimin viitebudjetit. Kuluttajatutkimuskeskus,
Helsinki. Julkaisuja, 4/2010. https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/152360
Pakoma R. Mitä syöminen maksaa? Kuluttajien näkemyksien pohjalta laadittu kohtuullisen
minimin ruokabudjetti. Kuluttajatutkimuskeskus. Työselosteita ja esitelmiä 126/2010.
Lehtinen A-R, Varjonen J, Aalto K (2013) Konsensusmenetelmän ja kuluttajalähtöisyyden edut
kohtuullisen kulutuksen määrittelyssä. Teoksessa:
O Kangas, M Niemelä, A Raijas (toim.) Takaisin perusteisiin: perusturvan riittävyys
kulutuksen näkökulmasta (s. 82–101). Helsinki: Kela. Teemakirja 2013; (12).
https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/42400/Takaisin+perusteisiin.pdf?sequence=1
Lehtinen A-R, Aalto K (2014) Viitebudjettien päivitys vuodelle 2013 –
Mitä kohtuullinen eläminen maksaa? Kuluttajatutkimuskeskus, Helsinki.
Julkaisuja, 3/2014. (hinnat päivitetty 11.4.2016 vuodelle 2015)

Thank you!
anna-riitta.lehtinen@helsinki.fi
kristiina.aalto@helsinki.fi

RBs per month in various household types
in 2015 (in Helsinki)
a car is
included

Reference budgets
”Drawing up inventories of highly specified items, giving numbers to them,
allocating lifetimes, processing them and putting them into lists,
incorporating them in the budget and adding them up, is time consuming,
tedious and unexiting job….It is far more demanding than secondary data
analysis and probably as demanding as survey research. It is big social
science, it takes considerable effort, expertice, and imagination. ”
(Bradshaw 1993)

The Revised Finnish Reference Budgets

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