Belgian Reference Budgets for Social Participation and their use for Policy Purposes

This chapter discusses the development of reference budgets in Belgium. It confirms how reference budgets offer a monetary benchmark, which illustrates the minimum costs of goods and services that individuals and families should have at their disposal in order to adequately participate in society. It also clarifies the standard adequate social participation and reference budgets that are designed for pre-defined “model families.” The chapter looks into the approach of the study, which is grounded in the theories of human need and the deliberations of experts and researchers who are guided by official guidelines and scientific literature. It discloses how focus groups are used to help establish the acceptability of the reference budgets, which comprises of people from different socio-economic backgrounds.