The Measurement of Family Material Well-Being

This paper reports on the development of measures offamily material well-being, based on observations of ownership and consumption behavior in a sample of 1, 169 New Zealand families. Factor analysis of 49 indicator measures revealed that the material well-being of the families could be measured along two distinct yet correlated dimensions: the level offamily ownership and the amount of economizing behavior the family was required to undertake. Both dimensions were of moderate to good reliability and showed systematic correlations with a series of concurrent and predictive validity measures. The advantages of direct measures offamily material well-being over the traditional alternatives of income, expenditure, or family budget information are discussed.