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Video games or Painting? How Children’s Gender Affects Parental Spending

Sat, August 11, 10:30 to 11:30am, Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, Floor: Level 5, Salon G

Abstract

It is well established that parental and household characteristics are important in determining patterns of parental spending on children, but scholars know less about how children’s gender matters in the contemporary United States. To fill this gap, this study examines whether household with only boys and girls show any differences in the types of spending, as well as in aggregate spending on children. We also investigate the association between parental and household characteristics and a gendered pattern of spending on children. Using pooled data from the 2013-2016 Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES), we find that households with only girls spent more on goods for children than those with only boys, but not more on education or child care. Additionally, we find that parents with only boys spent more on technology, sports, and outdoor activities than parents with only girls. Parents with only girls spent significantly more on fees for recreational lessons including some sporting activities, music, dancing, and painting and on music-related goods such as records, audio tapes, and CDs compared to those with only boys. Finally, family/household characteristics such as age of youngest child, householder’s education, income, and family structure are significantly associated with gender-specific expenditures. Our findings suggest that differences in parental spending on boys and girls might represent a gendered pattern of investment in children.

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