Expensive Children in Poor Families: Out-of-Pocket Expenditures for the Care of Disabled and Chronically Ill Children in Welfare Families

• Published in: Journal of marriage and family 2000-05, Vol.62 (2), p.399-415
• Main Authors: Lukemeyer, Anna, Meyers, Marcia K., Smeeding, Timothy
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: California; Caring; Child Care; Child Poverty; Child. Socialization; Children; Children & youth; Chronic Illness; Chronic illnesses; Costs; Dependents; Disabilities; Disability; Disabled persons; Economic costs; Economic Impact; Employment; Expenditures; Families & family life; Family; Family Characteristics; Family Income; Females; handicap; Handicapped; Health Care Costs; Health care expenditures; Human Capital; Labor Force Nonparticipants; Labor Supply; Low income; Low Income Groups; Medicaid; Medical Services; Mothers; Out of pocket expenses; Parent-Child Relations; Parents; Policy analysis; Poor; Poverty; Public assistance programs; Sociology; Sociology of the family. Age groups; Special Needs Students; Welfare; Welfare Recipients
• ISSN: 0022-2445; 1741-3737
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2000.00399.x

A significant minority of poor families care for children with disabilities and chronic illnesses. This study is among the first to explore private costs resulting from children's disabilities among low-income families. We find that almost half of the sample of California AFDC families with special-needs children incurred some direct, out-of-pocket expenses in the preceding month, and about 20% incurred total costs exceeding $100. We also estimate lost employment income among low-income mothers caring for children with disabilities. We conclude that both out-of-pocket expenses and foregone earnings represent a substantial burden for many low-income families with special-needs children, and we discuss the policy implications of these findings.