This paper is concerned with patterns of expenditure and child welfare among female headed
(FHH) and male headed households (MHH) in Tanzania as well as with the underlying cause
of potentially different patterns. I estimate semiparametric Engel curves to investigate
household expenditure patterns while controlling for household characteristics and find that
FHH spend significantly more money on the welfare of children and less on consumption of
adult goods. In an attempt to explain this observed difference, I further investigate the
empirical content of the old-age security hypothesis, which states that persons lacking the
financial means to rely on themselves during old-age invest more in children who care for
them in later periods. The results lend support to the idea that old-age security might be the
driving force behind the observed differences of expenditure allocated towards the welfare of
children. FHH having access to alternative means of old-age security, spend significantly less
on child welfare. Furthermore, food expenditure levels of FHH and MHH with access to
alternative old-age security become the same.