The Dilemma of Dividing Five Candies Between Two Children

Abstract

Distributing resources between individuals often leads to difficult dilemmas. Imagine, for example, a father who wants to give out five lollipops to his two daughters. He can give two lollipops to one girl and three to the other, which will make things unequal between the two girls. Alternatively, he can give two lollipops to each girl and throw away the fifth. This will maintain equality but will be wasteful. In this article, we will review recent findings on how children and adults resolve the tension between unequal distribution and waste. In particular, we will describe findings showing that children, and even adults, often waste resources to avoid inequality. This tendency develops at a young age and is observed in multiple countries. Finally, we will describe ways to distribute resources fairly without wasting them, which can make people feel good and avoid waste.