Search results

Starting from the normative method, applied in RIQL we will evaluate the real purchasing power of the retired families, more precisely how the income of a person or family covers the essential minimum of goods and services necessary for the subject under discussion. In the time period 1990-2021, the standard of living of the Romanian population was affected in different ways. The incomes of families with children, as well as retired families, could not keep up, sometimes, with the price increases applied to products and services on the market. The incomes and expenses of the population provide a concrete picture of the quality of life of the population and contribute to taking the necessary measures, through socio-economic policies, for the benefit of society members.

The current situation determined by the increase in the price of electricity and natural gas was felt in the consumption basket of the families of employees, unemployed, the beneficiaries of social assistance both domestically and internationally. Low-budget families have become vulnerable during the cold season to the surge in electricity and gas bills. The effects caused by these increases determined the Romanian authorities to take emergency legislative measures, by compensating in the period November 2021 - March 2022, the households that are unable to pay their utility bills and that deepened in this context, their state of energy poverty.

This form of support was called social assistance. It was explicitly built around the idea of ​​minimum consumption and had as beneficiaries, especially people / families of working age, without a job, with children in maintenance. One year later, Law 67/1995 proposed the concept of guaranteed minimum income (GMI), designed to cover the consumption needs of the poorest (10%) of Romanians, identified by consumption expenditure per household, approximately 6% of Romanian households. The guaranteed minimum income is a very well-targeted allowance, which identifies people at risk of poverty and social exclusion, being based on testing means, depending on income, household possessions and land owned, and is granted on condition that the beneficiary works in for the benefit of the community, to discourage inactivity. Starting with January 2011, the necessary funds are provided from the state budget through the budget of the Ministry of Labor, Family and Social Protection and consist of financial benefits and services that include: the guaranteed minimum income; health insurance, without the obligation to pay the contribution to the health insurance budget.

This article presents the normative method, applied in Romania, in order to validate the population's consumption by covering to a minimum the essential goods and services necessary for the individual and for his family, at home and in society. Further, the study presents the dynamics of the main incomes of the population in the time period 1990-2018, as well as their influence on consumption. The study concludes what are the needs of the Romanian population and to what extent they were met or not, during the period of time studied. In the period of time 1990-2018 the incomes of different families with children and pensioners could not keep up with the price increases on products and services on the market. This led to the deterioration of time in the quality of life of these families. The incomes or expenditures of the population provide a clear and concrete situation regarding the quality of life of the population and therefore contribute to actions, through socioeconomic policies oriented towards the benefit of the members of these societies.