A Reassessment of Age and Gender Specifications on Household Clothing Expenditures: Development of Age Category Guidelines for Determining Clothing Allotments

There are many situations (e.g., foster care and child support payments) in which a monetary allotment for children's clothing is explicitly or implicitly included as part of a household transfer. Typically, the amount of payment is related to the age of the child although universally accepted guidelines for determining clothing allotments, based on age, do not exist. This research empirically examined various age and gender specifications in an effort to identify a categorization that sufficiently captures the differing effects of children's ages and gender on household clothing expenditures. Clothing allotments based on school-age categories appeared most appropriate and were evaluated in light of both developmental and economic factors.