"Family economics applies economic concepts such as production, division of labor, distribution, and decision making to the family."
This subfield analyzes the economic factors that impact families, including income, employment, and financial management, and how these factors influence family well-being.
Budgeting: The process of creating a plan for managing income and expenses to achieve financial goals.
Saving: The act of setting aside a portion of income for future use, in order to achieve specific financial goals.
Debt management: The process of managing and reducing debt, including credit card debt, student loans, and mortgages.
Investing: The act of using money to purchase assets that may increase in value over time, with the goal of achieving financial security and growth.
Retirement planning: The process of planning for later years of life, including decisions about savings, investments, and other financial factors.
Estate planning: The process of planning for the distribution of assets after death, including the use of wills and trusts.
Tax planning: The process of minimizing tax liability through careful planning and management of income and expenses.
Insurance: The use of insurance to protect against financial losses due to accidents, illness, or other unforeseen events.
Financial literacy: An understanding of financial concepts and skills necessary to make informed financial decisions.
Family values: The beliefs and attitudes that inform decision-making within a family, including decisions about finances.
Communication: The skills necessary to effectively communicate about financial decisions within a family.
Time management: The process of managing time effectively, in order to achieve financial goals and balance other responsibilities.
Conflict resolution: The ability to resolve conflicts within a family, including conflicts related to finances.
Goal-setting: The process of setting clear and achievable financial goals, in order to stay motivated and focused on long-term success.
Entrepreneurship: The process of starting and managing a business, potentially as a means of achieving financial stability and growth.
Traditional Family Economics: This is a type of family economics that focuses on preserving tradition and maintaining an emphasis on family values that have been passed down through generations. It includes ideals such as hard work, honesty, loyalty, and respect for elders.
Modern Family Economics: This type of family economics embraces modern values such as individuality, equality, diversity, and acceptance.
Religious Family Economics: This type of family economics is based on the religious values and beliefs of a particular faith community. It prioritizes the teachings of the religion and takes a more structured approach to family life.
Progressive Family Economics: This type of family economics promotes progress and change, including progressive values such as social justice, gender equity, and environmentalism.
Communitarian Family Economics: This type of family economics emphasizes the importance of community involvement and seeks to raise children who are socially responsible and committed to making a positive impact in their local community.
Libertarian Family Economics: This type of family economics values individual freedom and stresses the importance of personal responsibility and autonomy within the family unit.
Natural Family Economics: This type of family economics emphasizes the importance of natural processes, such as natural birthing, breastfeeding and child-rearing practices, and herbal medicine.
Entrepreneurial Family Economics: This type of family economics values entrepreneurial and business-minded families, encouraging their children to pursue entrepreneurial careers and take on family-owned businesses.
Minimalist Family Economics: This type of family economics values simplicity and minimalism, focusing on reducing waste, ecological impact, and consumption.
Cross-Cultural Family Economics: This type of family economics values and incorporates different cultural practices and customs, emphasizing family preservation in immigrant and diaspora communities.
"Important exceptions are Thomas Robert Malthus' model of population growth and Friedrich Engels' pioneering work on the structure of the family."
"Since the 1960s, family economics has developed within mainstream economics, propelled by the new home economics started by Gary Becker, Jacob Mincer, and their students."
"Standard themes include altruism in the family, child health and mortality, family organization, background, and opportunities for children, fertility and the demand for children in developed and developing countries."
"Human capital, social security, and the rise and fall of families."
"Mate selection, search costs, marriage, divorce, and imperfect information."
"Altruism in the family, including the rotten kid theorem."
"Outcomes unique to the family—such as marriage, the decision to have children, fertility, time devoted to domestic production, and dowry payments using economic analysis."
"Intergenerational mobility and inequality, including the bequest motive."
"Interrelation and trade-off of 'quantity' and 'quality' of children through investment of time and other resources of parents."
"Child health and mortality."
"Macroeconomics of the family."
"Fertility and the demand for children in developed and developing countries."
"Family organization, background, and opportunities for children."
"The decision to have children, fertility, time devoted to domestic production."
"Sexual division of labor, intra-household bargaining, and the household production function."
"Outcomes unique to the family—such as dowry payments using economic analysis."
"Thomas Robert Malthus' model of population growth."
"Human capital, social security, and the rise and fall of families."
"Several surveys, treatises, and handbooks are available on the subject of family economics."