The Relationship Between Household Size and the Demand for Medical Care

Timothy Halliday () and Mijung Park ()
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Timothy Halliday: Department of Economics, University of Hawaii at Manoa
Mijung Park: Department of Nursing, School of Nursing & Dental Hygiene, University of Hawaii at Manoa

No 200916, Working Papers from University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics

Abstract: This article documents a robust negative relationship between household size and medical expenditures. Residing in a larger family is associated with less consumption of medical care ceteris paribus. An additional household member is associated with between $255.60 and $277.36 fewer expenditures on health care on average. Using quantile regression, we found that the magnitude of cost saving associated with living in a larger family increases with the demand for medical care. Based on these findings, we conclude that larger family size may be beneficial to a person’s health. Future research is needed to verify the mechanisms underlying this correlation.

Keywords: household size; medical expenditure; family; care-giving (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea
Date: 2009-11-03

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