The Varying Value of Children

Abstract

Using data from the Value of Children (VOC) replication study in 2002/3, the value of children for their parents is investigated cross-culturally for different age groups in 11 countries (South Korea, and the Czech Republic). As a prerequisite, the cross-national equivalence of the VOC measurement is established in calculating the overall and the particular country-specific factorial structures. The analysis results in a three-dimensional structure of the VOC, namely comfort, social esteem and affect. This structure is replicated for every national group, and the resulting scales are of high internal consistency as revealed by the respective alpha coefficients. Additionally, the data are also tested for culturespecific response styles, for which the final VOC comparisons are controlled by means of a bias index. The findings indicate children's importance for comfort and esteem to be highest in high-fertility countries with lineage-based kinship systems and low affluence, while it is lowest in low-fertility countries with high affluence and a state-based insurance system. Affect is very high across all countries with only minor variations.

Value of Children and the social production of welfare

“…Within this framework, bridging hypotheses are easily generated for the effects of institutional differences at the societal level and of individual opportunity structures and resources (Nauck 2001;Nauck and Klaus 2007). They will demonstrate the theoretical potential of the VOC approach when embedded in the framework of the theory of social production functions, and when used for explaining context-dependent generative behavior in cross-cultural comparison.…”

“…A second series of analyses was dedicated to cross-societal comparisons of VOC and fertility, allowing variance in: individual resources, contextual opportunities, adolescents' fertility intentions (Mayer 2009;Mayer and Trommsdorff 2010), fertility strategies between generations (Nauck 2006;2010a), and fertility outcomes (Nauck 2007b;2014a;Nauck and Klaus 2007;Klaus, Suckow, and Nauck 2007;Klaus, Suckow, and Soloveva 2009).…”

Gender roles and values of children: Childless Couples in East and West Germany

“…Much of his work actually only addresses women's values of children (Nauck 2007;Nauck and Klaus 2007). However, the model allows for an elaboration of differences between men's and women's values of children if one assumes that men and women maximize their social esteem and physical well-being in different ways.…”

The Second Demographic Transition in Israel: One for All?

“…Previous findings regarding the national and socio-cultural profile of Israeli society show a preference for large families and that children are highly valued (Friedlander and Goldscheider 1978;Fogiel-Bijaoui 2002;Landau 2003;Lavee and Katz 2003;Nauck and Klaus 2007;Suckow 2008;DellaPergola 2009;Schellekens 2009). The family as a social construct is subject to social approval (Bourdieu 1996), leading to the encouragement of certain types of individual behaviour.…”