Abstract

The share of household resources devoted to a child may depend on their gender, birth order, or relationship to the household head. However, it is challenging to determine whether parents favor certain children over others as consumption data is collected at the household level. I develop a new methodology using the collective household framework to identify consumption inequality between different types of children. I apply this method to child fostering in Malawi, where 17 percent of households have a child who is living away from both of their biological parents. I find little evidence of inequality between foster and non-foster children, with the exception of orphaned foster children whose consumption is 20 percent less than non-foster children.