No abstract

Using the 2008 Survey of Chinese Consumer Finance and Investor Education and the 2007 Survey of Consumer Finances, this study compared saving motives between Chinese and American urban households. Results showed that Chinese households were more likely than American households to report precautionary and education saving motives, and Chinese households with lower incomes were more likely to report a retirement saving motive. Chinese households’ stronger motivation to save serves as an explanation of the greater saving rates in China, compared with the United States. The results have implications for policy makers, financial professionals, and consumer finance researchers.

Using the 1992-1993 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study, with the 1997 follow-up, the parental decision to borrow and, for borrowers, the level of borrowing for dependent children's college education was analyzed. Parents with smaller household size and those being college graduates borrowed greater amounts. White parents borrowed greater amounts than their non-White counterparts. The age of the student, dependent students' income and parents' cash and savings each had a significant negative impact on the amount parents borrowed, while home equity was a significant positive factor. Greater college costs significantly increased parents' decision to borrow, as well as the borrowed amount. Greater amounts of grants significantly reduced the amount borrowed.

The Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), 1985–1992, are the data used to simultaneously examine the role of family stability to both market and household time allocation for both spouses and the role of couples’ time allocation in their probability of divorce. The study found that increases in the probabilities of divorce were only significantly correlated with decreases in wife’s housework time. It was also found by the study that increases in the husband’s market work hours and increases in the wife’s household work hours had negative effects on the probability of divorce. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007Divorce, Market work, Household production,

Household leisure expenditures for retired and near-retired households were examined in order to better understand the dynamics associated with the move to retirement status. Data from the 1995 Consumer Expenditure Survey indicated that retirement, total expenditures, and education had positive impacts on leisure expenditures. For retired households, greater total expenditures and education increased expenditures, while age and the presence of earned income decreased expenditures. For near-retired households, greater total expenditures, education, and the presence of asset income significantly increased leisure expenditures.