Someone who lives in a city with public transportation may not need to spend as much on transportation as a rural resident. For the farm family, the percent of family income allocated for housing may seem extremely low. That's because the house investment is typically considered to be an integral part of the farm business. Your family's size, stage of development and number of wage earners help determine how the family paycheck pie is sliced. Employed families with small children may spend as much as 10 to 20 percent of the family take-home pay for child care.
Elder care is a big portion of other family budgets.
Families have different spending priorities because they think different things are important. The family who thinks it's important to give to the church or to give elaborate gifts to others will spend more for gifts and contributions than the family who places a low priority on these items. The amount spent for education varies widely from family to family, depending on the age of children and the priority placed on education. All families are different. They all have different values.