Estimating the cost of raising a child in Catalonia through the reference budgets approach

In this chapter we exploit the references budgets (RBs) approach to calculate the cost of raising a child in Catalonia in densely populated areas, taking Barcelona as the reference city. RBs illustrate priced baskets of goods and services that represent the minimum resources needed for an adequate social participation. Adequate participation is defined as the ability of people to fulfil the various social roles they play as members of society (Storms et al, 2013).
The chapter is structured as follows. First, we describe the theoretical framework and methods used to estimate the minimum resources needed for adequate social participation. Second, we present the total budget for various family types and children costs, as well as the validation of its content through focus groups. Third, the figures obtained are discussed in relation to the Catalan institutional context in order to explore how RBs could be used to monitor social policy. Finally, some limitations and future lines of research are proposed.