Alternative measures of standard of living: (family composition, wealth, leisure time).

Summary This thesis proposes a reconstruction of the concept of standard of living, as a measure of material well-being, based on the notions of "modes of functioning" and freedom of choice. The objective of this reconstruction is to lead to the estimation of standard of living indicators that allow interpersonal comparisons without neglecting individual characteristics too radically. On the basis of this definition, the calculation of an equivalence scale is undertaken, but unlike traditional scales, this one will make the cost of the child a function of household resources. An attempt is then made to integrate the stock of wealth into the standard of living of households, an attempt that leads to the estimation of new dispersion characteristics of the distribution of the standard of living of the French population. Leisure time is the last variable taken into account in the measurement of material well-being. Rejecting the traditional measure of "full income", an alternative is considered considering that the set of choices of the household (on the space "monetary resources-leisure time") defines more precisely its standard of living. Finally, an estimate of the distribution of total wealth is proposed in a last chapter.