Household Expenditures on Children Household expenditures on children

Regression results suggest that household income and parental education are the main factors influencing expenditures on children's education, entertainment, and books; that children in single-parent or cohabiting households are disadvantaged is thus due mainly to the lower income and education levels of these households, not their marital status A n increasing number of children living in nontraditional families has led researchers to study these children and their families. In 2004, two-thirds of children were living with married parents; about a quarter of children were living in a one-parent household, the majority with their mother; and the rest were living in other types of households. 1 Numerous studies show that children in single-parent households, especially mother-only households , are disadvantaged, compared with children in two-parent households. 2 These studies find that children from one-parent households are significantly less likely to complete their high school education 3 and significantly more likely to obtain lower grades 4 than their counterparts in two-parent households. Also, children in single-parent households are deprived economically and socially 5 and show more problem behaviors than children in two-parent households. 6 Differences in children's well-being between two-parent and single-parent households are often attributed to differences in household income. 7 The economic disadvantage of single households is clearly seen in the following statistics: in 2006, the median income for married-couple households was $69,716, while that for single-father and single-mother households was $47,078 and $31,818, respectively. Moreover, less than 5 percent of married-couple households were below the poverty level, whereas the percentages were 13.2 percent for single-father households and 28.2 percent for single-mother households. 8 Although it is well established that income is a strong indicator of children's well-being, little attention has been paid to possible differences in the allocation of economic resources, especially by family type. Few studies have focused directly on expenditures on children. 9 Because each household makes numerous decisions on how to allocate its financial resources , not only income, but also the allocation of economic resources, needs to be thoroughly examined to fully understand children's well-being in single-and two-parent families. In one study, Susan Mayer points out that there is a direct relationship between consumption and children's well-being, whereas income shows an indirect effect on children's well-being. 10 Mayer also cites the importance of individu-als' decisions on resource allocation, contending that if parents spend money on fast food or luxurious clothing for their children, the children …