An Anthropological Approach to the Study of the Economic Value of Children in Java and Nepal [and Comments and Reply

Abstract

This paper seeks to test the assumption of the microeconomic theory of fertility that the economic value of children is a factor influencing fertility behavior of parents in peasant societies. On the basis of anthropological investigation in one village in Java and one in Nepal, the average amount of time spent by children in different types of activities-both household-maintenance and directly productive-is estimated directly. The support provided by the children to their elderly parents is assessed primarily by examining the pattern of residential arrangements. Anthropological techniques of repeated interviews and direct observation were used to collect the data. Important findings include the following: (1) The work input of children under 15 in both villages is sufficiently substantial to suggest that, at the current rate of reproduction and under the present circumstances, they probably have net positive economic value to their parents, aside from the support they provide toparents during old age. (2) In both villages, girls do more work than boys in almost all age-groups. (3) The work input of children with two or more siblings is higher than that of children with 0-1 sibling. (4) The correlation coefficient between the total work input of children and the balance of income over food expenditure in households is significant. (5) Most elderly persons in both villages are living either with their children or near them. (6) The pattern of actual reproductive behavior in the Javanese and Nepalese villages may be regarded as a mechanism which enable the parents to achieve a relatively large number of surviving children while avoiding the extreme pressure on the household economy that would result from uncontrolled fertility.