The age-old question on spending: an analytical study on the factors affecting Philippine household spending patterns on health and education, with a focus on senior headship
Abstract
This paper focuses on the effects of senior headship, while taking into account regional variables and other household characteristics on household spending on health and education. Using data from the Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS) of 2013, OLS regression is used to analyze the significance and effects of the hypothesized determinants on household spending on health and education. The Huber-White sandwich estimators were utilized to correct for hetero skedasticity. The results of this study reveal that senior-headed households spend less on both health and education than their non-senior counterparts. For health, senior-headed households spend approximately ₱21,570 less than non-senior headed households. As for education, senior-headed households, on the average, spend roughly ₱454 less than non-senior headed households. The controlled variables include age of the household head, marital status of the household head, employment status of the household head, household size, income, cash received from abroad, gifts received for the particular expenditure category, and sex of the household head.