Evolving Perspectives on the Cost of Living: From Historical Roots to Modern Realities
Keywords:
Ethics of responsibility, Intergenerational justice, Ecological crisis, Planetary sustainability, Hans Jonas, Pope Francis., family budget, consumption model, minimum subsistence level, social categories.Abstract
Knowledge is an imperative of life that must prove its practical efficiency, overcoming the obstacles and disadvantages it encounters ideological “inclinations” or “preferences”. Human society moves, develops, progresses or regresses, depending on the contexts in which it manifests itself. It can be appreciated that each method is important from a scientific point of view, be it analytical or synthetic, and each, in turn, contributes to the analysis and deepening of knowledge of population consumption at a given moment or over a wider time horizon. The values of consumption determined by the descriptive method compared to the normed one, in the case of employees and peason families are small. The real consumption of these families is lower than what would usually exist, unlike pensioner families who, in reality, consume more than is normal for this type of family. The importance of the minimum subsistence level is great by supporting the dimensioning of poverty in a country or in a certain time and the measures that can be taken to support the population in needs.
References
J. Singer-Kèrel (1961) Le cout de la vie à Paris de 1940 a 1954.
R. Nickstand (1971) Lebenscaltungaziffenn. Methodologische Anffassung. (no. 12).
R. Ferbert (1976) Theorie de la consummation. p.64.
F. Mills (1968) Statistical Methods.
M.J. Ulmer (1969) The Economic Theory of Cost of Living Index Numbers.
P. Erdős, F. Molnar A method for estimating income, consumption and savings of social groups. 19(no.3-4), p.284.
C. Luck, A. Powell, R.A. Williams (1977) Patterns in Household Demand and Saving. p.216.
H. Puwak, M. Stanciu, E. Popescu, I. Ghindă, M. Teodorescu, L. Ionescu (1992) The Cost of Life. Theoretical and Methodological Problems of Measuring It.
S. Sută-Selejan (1994) Doctrines and Currents in Modern and Contemporary Economic Thinking.
S. Rowntree (1901) Poverty; A study of Town Life.
A. Etzioni (2002) Monochrome Society. p.69.
K. Marx (1966) Capital, Book One, Chapter 4. 23, p.184.
J. Bertrand (1983) Progress in Man.
UNDP (1998) Methods and techniques for assessing poverty. p.10. http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/rfsoc_0035-2969_1981_num_22_1_3393
C. Boudelot, R. Establet, J. Toiser (1979) Toiser: Who works for whom?. p.261.
C. Boudelot, R. Establet (1981) The crisis of the productive system. p.141.
V. Iordache (1969) The cost of living index. pp.63-69.
N. Georgescu-Roegen (1943) The cost of living.
Gh. Barbu (1992) The minimum living standard – concept and operational instrument in Romanian reality. (no. 3-4), pp.250-261.
C. Zamfir (1995) Dimensions of poverty.
A. Mihăilescu (2004) Minimum living wage and social costs operational concepts in the analysis of quality of life.
A. Mihăilescu (2001) Methodology for calculating the minimum of decent living and subsistence. 47-70.
A. Mihăilescu (2002) Methodology for calculating the minimum of decent living and subsistence for a family of farmers. 113-129.
I. Mincu (1975) Rational nutrition of the healthy person.
I. Gonțea (1975) Rational nutrition of the modern person.
I. Mărginean, A. Bălaşa (2002) Quality of life in Romania.
NIS (2022) Press release no.7 / January 11, 2022.
NIS (2025) Press release no.83 / April 7, 2025. p.5.
What are the foods most often consumed by Romanians. ziarulfaclia.ro
Eurostat: Romania ranks last in the EU in fruit and vegetable consumption. Only 2% of the population eats at least five servings daily. bizbrasov.ro
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Authors and Global Journals Private Limited

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
