Sweet child of mine: Parental income, child health and inequality

Nicolas Berman (1, 2) , Lorenzo Rotunno (1) , Roberta Ziparo (1)

1 AMSE - Aix-Marseille Sciences Economiques
2 CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research

How to allocate limited resources among children is a crucial household decision, especially in developing countries where it might have strong implications for children and family survival. We provide the first systematic study linking variations in parental income in the early life of children to subsequent child health and parental investments across siblings in developing countries, using data from multiple waves of the Demographic and Health Surveys spanning 54 countries. Variations in the world prices of locally produced crops are used as measures of local income. We find that children born in periods of higher income receive better human capital (health and education) investments and durably enjoy better health than their siblings. Children whose siblings were born during favourable income periods receive less investment and exhibit worse health. We also provide evidence that other investments (education, fertility) react to sibling rivalry, and show that these within-households adjustments matter at the aggregate level.

Mots clés: health; income; parental investments; intra-household allocations

Domaines: Economies et finances

Nicolas Berman, Lorenzo Rotunno, Roberta Ziparo. Sweet child of mine: Parental income, child health and inequality. 2022. ⟨halshs-02499192v2⟩