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Household Education Spending in Latin America and the Caribbean: Evidence from Income and Expenditure Surveys

Author

Listed:
  • Santiago Acerenza

    (Department of Economics Iowa State University Ames, IA 50011 Author email: acerenza@iastate.edu)

  • Néstor Gandelman

    (Facultad de Administración y Ciencias Sociales Universidad ORT Uruguay Montevideo 11.300, Uruguay Author email: gandelman@ort.edu.uy)

Abstract

This paper characterizes household spending in education using microdata from income and expenditure surveys for twelve Latin American and Caribbean countries and the United States. Bahamas, Chile, and Mexico have the highest household spending in education and Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay have the lowest. Tertiary education is the most important form of spending, and most educational spending is performed for 18- to 23-year-old individuals. More educated and wealthier household heads spend more in the education of household members. Households with both parents present and those with a female main income provider spend more than their counterparts. Urban households also spend more than rural households. On average, education in Latin America and the Caribbean is a luxury good, whereas it may be a necessity in the United States. No gender bias is found in primary education, but at secondary school age and up households invest more in females than in males.

Suggested Citation

  • Santiago Acerenza & Néstor Gandelman, 2019. "Household Education Spending in Latin America and the Caribbean: Evidence from Income and Expenditure Surveys," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 14(1), pages 61-87, Winter.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:edfpol:v:14:y:2019:i:1:p:61-87
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    Cited by:

    1. Gandelman, Néstor & Serebrisky, Tomás & Suárez-Alemán, Ancor, 2019. "Household spending on transport in Latin America and the Caribbean: A dimension of transport affordability in the region," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1-1.
    2. Sergio Urzua, 2019. "Redistribution Through Education: The Value of Public Education Spending," Commitment to Equity (CEQ) Working Paper Series 88, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    3. Alaimo, Veronica & Cafagna, Gianluca & Elacqua, Gregory & Giles Álvarez, Laura & Izquierdo, Alejandro & Keefer, Philip & Martínez Von der Fecht, Matías & Vuletin, Guillermo & Moreno-Serra, Rodrigo & P, 2018. "Better Spending for Better Lives: How Latin America and the Caribbean Can Do More with Less," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 9152, November.
    4. Van Le, Dao & Tran, Tuyen Quang, 2024. "Economic growth and quality of education: Evidence from the national high school exam in Vietnam," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    5. Acerenza, Santiago & Gandelman, Nestor & Misail, Daniel, 2025. "Neighborhood impacts on human capital accumulation of adolescents and young adults in Montevideo," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    6. Asmat Ullah & Saba Shaukat & Bilal Tariq, 2022. "Household Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Out of Pocket Educational Expenditure in Pakistan," Journal of Policy Research (JPR), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 8(4), pages 1-7, December.
    7. Shukla, Prakash Kumar & Reddy A, Bheemeshwar & Kumar, Dushyant, 2024. "Class in caste: Inequalities in human capital investments in children in India," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    8. Nestor Gandelman & Tomás Serebrisky & Ancor Suárez-Alemán, 2018. "Household spending on transport in Latin America and the Caribbean: understanding transport expenditure patterns," Documentos de Investigación 115, Universidad ORT Uruguay. Facultad de Administración y Ciencias Sociales.
    9. Garcia-Fuentes, Pablo A. & Lynn Kennedy, P. & Ash, William R., 2025. "The multiple impact of remittances on poverty in developing countries: Direct effects and through human capital," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 428-447.
    10. Evans, David K. & Gale, Charles & Kosec, Katrina, 2023. "The educational impacts of cash transfers in Tanzania," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education

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