Do Husbands and Wives Pool Their Resources? Evidence from the United Kingdom Child Benefit

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Human Resources
Year: 1997
Volume: 32
Issue: 3

Score contribution per author:

1.341 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Common preference models of family behavior imply income pooling, a restriction on family demand functions such that only the sum of husband's income and wife's income affects the allocation of goods and time. Testing the pooling hypothesis is difficult because most family income sources are not exogenous to the allocations being analyzed. In this paper, we present an alternative test based on a "natural experiment"-a policy change in the United Kingdom that transferred a substantial child allowance to wives in the late 1970s. Using Family Expenditure Survey data, we find strong evidence that a shift toward greater expenditures on women's clothing and children's clothing relative to men's clothing coincided with this income redistribution.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:uwp:jhriss:v:32:y:1997:i:3:p:463-480
Journal Field
Labor
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25