Efforts to reverse historic inequalities in school spending have been a priority for the South African government since 1994. Educational policies have focused on how to make schooling more affordable for the poorest South Africans, but households also differ in the personal time and money that they invest in education. We use the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS}, the 2010/11 Income and Expenditure of Households Survey and the third wave of the National Income and Dynamics Study (NIDS) to compare household spending on education.