abstract: 'This study examines the child care ``expenditure share,{''''} defined as

  child care expenses divided by after-tax income. We estimate that the

  average child under six years of age lives in a family that spends 4.9

  percent of after-tax income on child care. However, this conceals wide

  variation: 63 percent of such children reside in families with no child

  care expenses and 10 percent are in families where the expenditure share

  exceeds 16 percent. The proportion of income devoted to child care is

  typically greater in single-parent than married-couple families but is

  not systematically related to a constructed measure of socioeconomic

  status. One reason for this is that disadvantaged families use lower

  cost modes and pay less per hour for given types of care. The

  expenditure share would be much less equal without low cost (presumably

  subsidized) formal care focused on needy families, as well as government

  tax and transfer policies that redistribute income towards them.'
affiliation: 'Rosenbaum, DT (Corresponding Author), Univ N Carolina, Greensboro, NC
  27412 USA.

  Rosenbaum, Dan T.; Ruhm, Christopher J., Univ N Carolina, Greensboro, NC 27412 USA.'
article-number: '34'
author: Rosenbaum, Dan T. and Ruhm, Christopher J.
author-email: 'rosenbaum@uncg.edu

  chrisruhm@uncg.edu'
author_list:
- family: Rosenbaum
  given: Dan T.
- family: Ruhm
  given: Christopher J.
da: '2023-09-28'
files: []
issn: 1935-1682
journal: B E JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS \& POLICY
keywords: child care; expenditure share; parental employment; work-family balance
keywords-plus: UNITED-STATES; EMPLOYMENT; MODEL
language: English
number: '1'
number-of-cited-references: '23'
papis_id: b04d69443c050ee7d2c10b01f64c07c9
ref: Rosenbaum2007familyexpenditures
times-cited: '4'
title: Family expenditures on child care
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000256302600044
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '13'
volume: '7'
web-of-science-categories: Economics
year: '2007'