Children, Value of

In demography, the value of children refers most often to the benefits parents receive from having and rearing children. Benefits may accrue from the children themselves, from the experience of rearing them, or from the responses of kin, community, and society at large. Children also entail costs for parents and the value of children sometimes refers to their net value (benefits less costs). Benefits and costs of children are shaped by the economic conditions of life, forms of social organization, and cultural beliefs and practices. Studies using surveys to measure the value of children report variation in values across societies; by socioeconomic status; between women and men; for first, second, and higher order births; and for daughters versus sons. Cultural foundations for the value of children have also been explored. The net value of children underlies parents' desires for children which, in combination with their ability to achieve those desires, influences their decisions to have children and how many children they have