Old-Age Security Value of Children

Abstract
Some of the findings of the nine-country "Value of Children Study" pertaining to the perceived value of children in providing old-age security to their parents are presented. To what extent this value is attributed by parents to their children and what benefits are expected from children were assessed in the context of socioeconomic development. Specifically, it was found that with development, the old-age security value of the child decreases, which appears to be a key process contributing to lower fertility as well as to the modification of values concerning the place of the child and the care of the aged in society. Thus, the value attributed to the child forms an explanatory link at the individual level between development and declining fertility.

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