Examining Parental Expenditure on Children in Ghana

Understanding parental spending on children is crucial for making the right investments to positively influence child well-being and long-term social and economic outcomes. This study uses both quantitative household data from the Ghana Living Standards Survey round six (GLSS 6) and qualitative data based on focus group discussions to provide baseline information on how much couples spend on their children in various age brackets. Overall, the results show that older children attract higher expenditures than younger children. Household expenditures on children decrease with successive children, and non-poor couple-households spend almost twice as much as very poor couples. Furthermore, urban parents incur higher child expenditures than their rural counterparts. Finally, food and education account for the largest share of the expenditures on children.