Expenditure Flows Near Widowhood

Using data from the 1980–2001 Consumer Expenditure Surveys, we investigate how impending widowhood affects households’ expenditure patterns. We find that total annual expenditures are $4,027 higher for about-to-be-widowed households compared to otherwise comparable continuously married couples. Within subcategories, expenditures average $4,108 higher for the miscellaneous subcategory which includes expenditures on funerals/burials. We conclude that differences in the needs-adjusted incomes of married and widowed households may be partly a function of pre-widowhood differences in their expenditure patterns that lead about-to-be-widowhood households to draw down on financial wealth.     

The economics of housespousery: An essay on household work

The economic model of the household has been used extensively to examine questions relating to work within the household. This essay takes a critical look at this model and these household work applications. It concludes that the model provides several useful insights regarding factors that have influenced the decline in women's household work time during this century and the changes in the overall economic value of household work. In other areas (e.g., parental child care), the model has rarely been used although it has the potential to provide useful insights. Finally, in certain applications, such as investigations of the gender-related specialization of function within the household, the model relies on unrealistic assumptions that need to be modified if it is to prove useful. His research interests include the consumption, investiment, and time-use behavior of families and family members. Her research interests include family time allocation, household structure and economic well-being, and consumer policy.     

Short-run adjustments in the family's investment portfolio

American families have been changing the way they allocate their investment resources. These changes have raised questions concerning the types of investment decisions families make. The objective of this research was to gain a better understanding of the types of investment trade-offs households made between financial, physical, and human capital assets. This was done by estimating a short-run stock-adjustment model of family investments using panel data from the early 1970's. From examining the empirical results, it appeared that during this historical period, choices about a husband's human capital investment were generally related to a household's physical and financial asset acquisition. In contrast, choices regarding the wife's human capital investment appeared not to be related to any of the more traditional household investment options. The implications of this study for increasing understanding of current household investment patterns are discussed in the concluding section of the paper.