Goods for Children and Children as Goods: the Material Side of Raising Boys and Girls in Twentieth Century Sweden

Abstract

Discrimination between male and female children is a common phenomenon. With data from three Swedish expenditure surveys through the twentieth century, this article attempts to highlight some mechanisms of discrimination. Discrimination is at its maximum in the mid-twentieth century but less of a problem in the beginning and end. The article uses two hypotheses for explanation: one economic, which argues that the foundation of discrimination is economic rationality, whereas a sociocultural explanation argues that it is caused by parents’ perception as a just allocation between children. Neither hypothesis is found satisfactory in its own right; a dynamic explanation based on James Duesenberry’s utility functions is then developed.