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Time And The Cost Of Children

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  • Bruce Bradbury

Abstract

This paper uses the “adult goods” method to estimate the full costs of children. Full costs include both expenditure and time costs. Adult personal time (comprising pure leisure, sleep and other personal care) is used as the adult good. Previous research has shown that the presence of children in the household leads to a reduction in adult personal time. This paper develops a simple economic model of the household to show how this information can be used to develop an equivalence scale for adult consumption that takes account of both the expenditure and time costs of children. Preliminary estimates using Australian data suggest a very large cost—much higher than that typically assumed for expenditure costs. The full cost of children declines with age, despite the expenditure cost rising. The paper discusses the limitations of the adult good method and the assumptions needed to draw welfare conclusions from these and other estimates of child costs.

Suggested Citation

  • Bruce Bradbury, 2008. "Time And The Cost Of Children," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 54(3), pages 305-323, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:revinw:v:54:y:2008:i:3:p:305-323
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-4991.2008.00277.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Olivier Thévenon & Angela Luci, 2012. "Reconciling Work, Family and Child Outcomes: What Implications for Family Support Policies?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 31(6), pages 855-882, December.
    2. Marco Breschi & Alessio Fornasin & Matteo Manfredini, 2013. "Patterns of reproductive behavior in transitional Italy," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 29(44), pages 1227-1260.
    3. Alfred Michael Dockery & Sherry Bawa, 2015. "The Impact of Children on Australian Couples’ Wealth Accumulation," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 91(S1), pages 139-150, June.
    4. Tess Penne & Tine Hufkens & Tim Goedemé & Bérénice Storms, 2018. "To what extent do welfare states compensate for the cost of children? A hypothetical household approach to policy evaluations," Working Papers 1811, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    5. Steven F. Koch, 2023. "Basic Needs (in)Security and Subjective Equivalence Scales," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 169(3), pages 723-757, October.
    6. Hielke Buddelmeyer & Daniel S. Hamermesh & Mark Wooden, 2015. "The Stress Cost of Children," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2015n01, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    7. Bruce Bradbury, 2014. "Pensions for Singles and Couples," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(3), pages 480-498, September.
    8. Koulovatianos, Christos & Schrder, Carsten & Schmidt, Ulrich, 2009. "Nonmarket Household Time and the Cost of Children," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 27, pages 42-51.
    9. Alice Schoonbroodt, 2018. "Parental child care during and outside of typical work hours," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 453-476, June.
    10. George Argyrous & Lyn Craig & Sara Rahman, 2017. "The Effect of a First Born Child on Work and Childcare Time Allocation: Pre-post Analysis of Australian Couples," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 131(2), pages 831-851, March.
    11. Anderson VIL, 2023. "Children Costs in a One-Headed Household: Empirical Evidence from the UK," THEMA Working Papers 2022-21, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise.
    12. Anderson Vil, "undated". "Children Costs in a One-adult Household: Empirical Evidence from the UK," THEMA Working Papers 2024-08, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise.
    13. Ariane Pailhé & Anne Solaz & Maria Letizia Tanturri, 2019. "The Time Cost of Raising Children in Different Fertility Contexts: Evidence from France and Italy," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 35(2), pages 223-261, May.
    14. Antonella Caiumi & Federico Perali, 2015. "Who bears the full cost of children? Evidence from a collective demand system," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 33-64, August.
    15. Melanie Borah, 2020. "Estimating Extended Income Equivalence Scales from Income Satisfaction and Time Use Data," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 687-718, June.
    16. Ivica Urban & Martina Pezer, 2020. "Compensation for Households with Children in Croatia, Slovenia and Austria," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 147(1), pages 203-235, January.
    17. Garcia-Diaz Rocio, 2012. "Demand-Based Cost-of-Children Estimates and Child Poverty," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 12(1), pages 1-32, January.
    18. Emmanuel Ekow Asmah & Francis Kwaw Andoh & Naa Adjeley Suta Alakija Sekyi & Peter Yeltulme Mwinlaaru & Chei Bukari, 2023. "Examining Parental Expenditure on Children in Ghana," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 777-789, December.
    19. Rodríguez Biasone, Juan Ignacio, 2019. "Gastos de consumo de las familias y el costo de los niños," Nülan. Deposited Documents 3150, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales, Centro de Documentación.
    20. GÁL, Róbert Iván & VANHUYSSE, Pieter & MEDGYESI, Márton, 2023. "Taxing Reproduction : The Invisible Transfer Cost of Rearing Children in Europe," CEI Working Paper Series 2023-04, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    21. Buddelmeyer, Hielke & Hamermesh, Daniel S. & Wooden, Mark, 2018. "THE stress cost of children on moms and dads," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 148-161.
    22. Melanie Borah & Andreas Knabe & Kevin Pahlke, 2021. "Parental time restrictions and the cost of children: insights from a survey among mothers," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 19(1), pages 73-95, March.
    23. Leonardo Becchetti & Elena Giachin Ricca & Alessandra Pelloni, 2013. "The Paradox of Children and Life Satisfaction," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 111(3), pages 725-751, May.
    24. Nancy Folbre & Marta Murray-Close & Jooyeoun Suh, 2018. "Equivalence scales for extended income in the U.S," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 189-227, June.

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