Abstract We suggest a generalized collective model of consumption that extends Browning, Chiappori, Lewbel (2013) to couples with children. Economies of scale are defined using a general form of Barten scales. We identify resource sharing between household members and, originally, the contribution of each parent to the expenditure on children. We provide a tractable estimation approach based on a simple demand system for male and female clothing, i.e. two exclusive goods commonly available in standard surveys. We illustrate the method on thirty years of expenditure data for the UK. We relax the independence of the sharing rule on total expenditure and actually find that women’s shares increase with living standards. This, and progress in education levels, explain most of the reduction in intrahousehold inequality over the period.