Estimating the Effect of Household Age-Sex Composition on Food Expenditures

Abstract

The effects of variation in household age-sex composition on food expenditures are not, conventionally, accounted for when food expenditures are expressed on a per capita basis. Because households differ in physical makeup as well as in their ability to generate income, the specific requirements certain household members place on the family budget raise the problem of determing their relative economic position. The per capita approach fails to reflect the effect of variations in household composition on food expenditures. Therefore, it is desirable to isolate the normal food expenditure relation to the “household-specific” effects.