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Some Child Cost Estimates for South Africa

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  • Alex Sienaert

Abstract

The heterogeneous demographic composition of South African households means that the way that household income or expenditure is converted into an individual-level welfare measure is likely to matter. This paper examines the monetary and time costs of the most common economic dependents in households: children. The monetary costs of children are estimated at about half those of an adult. Time costs are substantial, and borne almost exclusively by women. Estimates that incorporate time costs suggest that children’s “full costs” are about twice monetary costs alone; with household resources fixed, the average, combined expenditure and time impact of children is very similar to adding an equivalent number of adults.

Suggested Citation

  • Alex Sienaert, 2008. "Some Child Cost Estimates for South Africa," CSAE Working Paper Series 2008-15, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
  • Handle: RePEc:csa:wpaper:2008-15
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    2. Zurab Abramishvili & William Appleman & Sergii Maksymovych, 2019. "Parental Gender Preference in the Balkans and Scandinavia: Gender Bias or Differential Costs?," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp643, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Household Demand; Time Allocation and Labor Supply; Child Care;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • R22 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Other Demand

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