Differential education expenditure by racial group was a pillar in the architecture of apartheid. School systems diverged by racial group, with large funding and curriculum differences (Fiske and Ladd, 2004). In 1994, spending on white learners was about 1.5 times the spending on urban African learners and more than four times the spending on rural African learners (Fiske and Ladd, 2004). Since 1994 much focus has been paid by government to redress these educational expenditure inequalities with policies such as the National Norms and Standards for School Funding (NNSSF) and the rollout of the no fee schools program disproportionately allocating state funds to low socioeconomic schools and the fee‐exemption policy providing low income households and grant recipients access to free education. Little is however known about how these policies have affected household educational expenditure across the income distribution.

Nicola Branson is postdoctoral research fellow in the Southern African Labour Development Unit at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Dineo Kekana is a research intern in the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) at UCT. David Lam is Professor of Economics and Research Professor in the Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan.