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Your question about legitimate methods of comparing income support levels is ambiguous -- are you interested in [a] making comparisons of levels of income support between countries, or [b] assessing the adequacy of income support in any specific country, also comparing countries? If [a], Peter Whiteford's answer will help you. However, you mention a court appeal, so if your objective is [b], then comparing statistical proportions is a completely invalid method of generating indicators of income maintenance benefit adequacy for your court case, since they contain not the slightest empirical evidence of minimum income levels needed in any specific country to meet any specified level of living, such as a decency or participatory standard. OECD has its interests, but participatory adequacy may not have been among them. Naturally it is possible to generate politically credible and usable data for governmental minimum income standards, but you have to go to a handful of north European countries for examples. In your circumstances, your best evidence of how to do a politically credible job is probably to use the US National Academy of Sciences' expert committee report -- C Citro and R Michael [1995], "Measuring Poverty -- a New Approach", National Academy Press, Washington DC. I prefer to use other methods than their minimum budgets modified by a form of Engel multiplier, but at least they focus on the main issues. To repeat, there is no a priori or empirical evidence to suggest that any arbitrary or average proportion of GDP, or any percentile of national income distribution, contains in it any evidence of income adequacy to achieve any specifiable minimum or other level of living in any country. They are entirely distinct conceptual and measurable entities, even if they are generally confused, often by people who should know better. Perhaps they do know better, but want to divert attention from inadequate incomes. Whichever it is, scholars should not collude in the confusion. John Veit Wilson. > Date: Thu, 15 May 2003 17:50:35 +0200 > Reply-to: John Gal <[log in to unmask]> > From: John Gal <[log in to unmask]> > Subject: help needed > To: [log in to unmask] > Hello, > I wonder if anybody can be of assistance. A number of colleagues and I recently assisted some NGO's in Israel appeal to the supreme court regarding major cuts in the income support benefit levels. > Does anyone know the source of these findings (the Ministry of Finance did not mention the specific sources surprisingly!), and > Is this a legitmate way to compare the level of benefits - I have used average income or PPP in the past. > Thanks, > John > > > > John Gal Ph.d > Senior Lecturer > Paul Baerwald School of Social Work > Hebrew University > Mt Scopus > Jerusalem > Israel 91905 > Tel: 972-2-5881305 > Fax: 972-2-5823587 > E-mail address: [log in to unmask] > > > ------------------------------------------------------------- From Professor J. H. Veit-Wilson Sociology and Social Policy University of Newcastle upon Tyne NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE NE1 7RU, England. Telephones: +44-191-222-7498 or +44-191-266-2428 Fax: +44-191-222-7497. E-mail: <[log in to unmask]>.