Book Description

Excerpt from Family Economics Review, Vol. 4: October 1987 How much does it cost the average Ameri can family to live the average American life? This seemingly simple question about family budget guidelines, and its corollary, How much should we spend? Are among the most frequently asked questions of family econo mists. Creditors would like to be able to assess a borrower's ability to pay by com paring his actual spending and obligations to a statistical standard. College financial aid officers could use family budget guidelines in setting need and eligibility criteria for student assistance. Policy makers need standards to establish the income adequacy levels that underlie poverty measures and to evaluate levels of living among groups and over time. Educators and financial planners want family budget guidelines to assist families in managing their money. Developing accurate descriptions and pro files of family spending patterns has been the focus of family economics research for more than 200 years, yet consistent, reli able, and useful estimates continue to elude researchers and practitioners. This article reviews the history of budget guideline research and development and identifies criteria for evaluating the usefulness of current indicators of expenditure levels and patterns as family budget guidelines. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.