Economic Well-Being and Household Size: Alternative Ways of Analyzing Demographic Information on Households

James R. Blaylock and William N. Blisard

No 308147, Agricultural Economic Reports from United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service

Abstract: In this report... Researchers use income distribution to measure the economic well-being of the population. However, analyzing how much better off one household is than another is difficult because there are many factors to consider in order to present an accurate picture. One major obstacle in comparing the well-being of households of different sizes is deciding on the appropriate way to adjust household income so that all households, regardless of size, are on an equal level in the study. For example, does a four-person household require twice as much income as a two-person household to be equally as well-off? In this report, we examine some alternative ways of adjusting household income to compare welfare across different sized households and demonstrate that the demographic characteristics(such as age, race, sex) of the poorest and richest households can vary greatly with the type of adjustment method selected.

Keywords: Consumer/Household Economics; Research Methods/Statistical Methods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 8
Date: 1990-11
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:uerser:308147

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.308147

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