Work

Two Can Live as Cheaply as One...But Three’s a Crowd

Year: 2012

Type: article

Abstract: To measure poverty, incomes must be equivalized across households with different structures. In this paper, we use a very flexible ordered response model to analyze the relationship between income, demographic structure and subjective assessments of financial wellbeing drawn from the 1991-2008 British Household Panel Survey. Our results suggest the existence of large scale economies within marital/cohabiting couples, but substantial diseconomies from the addition of children or further adults. This pattern contrasts sharply with commonly-used equivalence scales, and is consistent with explanations in terms of the capital requirements associated with additions to the core couple.

Source: UKnowledge (University of Kentucky)

Authors: Christopher R. Bollinger, Cheti Nicoletti, Stephen Pudney

Institution: University of Kentucky

Language: English

Topic: Income, Poverty, and Inequality

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: No poverty, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: green

Funders: Leverhulme Trust, Economic and Social Research Council

Award: G2359691210