Non-market household time and the cost of children

Christos Koulovatianos, Carsten Schröder and Ulrich Schmidt

No 2006/22, Discussion Papers from Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics

Abstract: A distinguishing feature among households is whether adult members work or not, since the occupational status of adults affects their available time for home activities. Using a survey method in two countries, Belgium and Germany, we provide household incomes that retain the level of well-being across different family types, distinguished by family size and occupational status of adults. Our tests support that childcare-time costs are important determinants of household well-being. Estimates of child costs relative to an adult are higher for households that are time-constrained (all adults in the household work). Moreover, we find supportive evidence for the hypothesis that, in two-adult households, there is a potential for within-household welfare gains from specialization in market- vs. domestic activities, especially childcare.

Keywords: household production; child costs; childcare; survey method (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C42 D13 D31 I31 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/3934/1/discpaper22_06.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Nonmarket Household Time and the Cost of Children (2009)
Working Paper: Nonmarket household time and the cost of children (2009)
Working Paper: Nonmarket Household Time and the Cost of Children (2008)
Working Paper: Non-Market Household Time and the cost of Children (2006)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:fubsbe:200622

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