Page 14 - Contributed Paper Session (CPS) - Volume 5

CPS647 Neveen N.M. et al.
Rothbarth's adult good method. Each of these methods embodies different
definitions of child costs so that the same empirical evidence can generate
quite different estimates depending on the method used. It is shown that true
costs are generally overstated by Engel's method and under- stated by
Rothbarth's procedure, although the latter, unlike the former, can provide a
sensible starting point for cost measurement. Our estimates from Sri Lankan
and Indonesian data suggest that children cost their parents about 30-40
percent of what they spend on themselves.
Study of Estimates of the Cost of a Child in Ireland (E) Garvey, (E) Murphy,
(P) Osikoya(2011) showed that The cost of a child is estimated using
information from the household budget surveys from 1987 to 2004. We use
an Engel method, where the share of household expenditure on food and a
broader basket of necessities both act as proxies for the material standard of
living. The cost of a child is also disaggregated according to age, gender and
the income status of the family. We find that older children are more costly
than younger children and that children cost proportionately more in lower
income households. The gap between the cost of children for lower and
higher income households has increased over time. Our findings on the cost
of children according to age are consistent with international findings and
previous results for Ireland. Our results on the cost of children according to
the income status of their families are consistent with the results of
international studies using comparable methods.
Study of The Rising Cost of Child Care in the United States (M) Chris (2015)
showed that Anecdotal evidence suggests that the cost of child care in the
U.S. has increased substantially over the past few decades. This paper
marshals data from a variety of sources to rigorously assess the issue. It begins
by using nationally representative survey data to trace the evolution in
families’ child care expenditures. I find that the typical family currently spends
14 percent more on child care than it did in 1990. This is less than half the
increase documented in previous work. Interestingly, low-income families
spend the same amount or less on child care, while their high-income
counterparts spend considerably more. Despite this divergence, families at all
income levels allocate the same share of income to child care as they did
several decades ago. The next section of the paper draws on establishment-
and individual-level data to examine trends in the market price of child care.
The evidence suggests that after persistent, albeit modest, growth throughout
the 199•s, market prices have been essentially flat for at least a decade. In the
paper’s final section, I analyze several features of the child care market that
may have implications for prices, including the demand for child care, the
skill-level of the child care workforce, and state regulations. A few findings are
noteworthy. First, I show that child care demand stagnated around the same
time that market prices leveled-off. Second, although the skill-level of the

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