1 2.1.3 The Sociological View of the Recker Model.
1. The maximum age limit of 60-85 used by Ohlin does not adequately reflect the situation in most of the developing world where the
expectation of life at birth for males and females are generally under 50 years, (cf. U.N. Demographic Year Book, 1975: 392-413).
On the other hand, it is obvious that if adult productivity
is very high and discount rates sufficiently low, the capital
value of a birth could be positive" (Ohlin, 1971: 1706).
(b) that "consumption is expected to rise gradually with increasing,
age, possibly reaching a fairly early peak if educational
expenses are large" (p.1707).
(c) that "production will rise only after the age of 10-15, as
participation in the labour force increases, and gradually
tapers off".
(d) that "some of the ’consumption' in childhood may actually be
provided by the community - education, health services, etc.
On the other hand, parents cannot claim the whole surplus when
the child is grown up. Part of it will be devoted to support
of the third generation" (p.1722).
(e) that "if a system of pensioning-through-children is to work at
all, there must be a reasonable certainty that a sufficient
number will survive to perform their filial duties ... However,
it seems unlikely that the number of children is completely
independent of the costs to which they give rise" (p.1723).
The analysis, when applied specifically to the less developed
societies, does not appear to explain adequately the consumntion-
production pattern of children. In some of these societies, consumption
in childhood may be provided by other extended family members and not
necessarily by parents. Production, on the other hand, may start
before the age of 10-15. The surplus when the child is grown up may
be divided between parents, siblings, other relatives, who contributed
to his consumption costs. Most importantly, the contributions of chil
dren to family welfare is not necessarily restricted to when parents are
aged 60-85; it is a continuous process which is most desirable, of course,
the form of assistance with education of siblings, participation in
family projects like the wedding of a brother or sister or the building
of a new family house as well as the flow of gifts in cash or kind even
while parents are still productive. A child who does not show early
signs of such concern for family and parental welfare is unlikely to
be a potential supporter of parents in old age. Filial responsibilities
to parents are, therefore, not just confined to old age support.^"
Another model that examines the pension motive for having children
"in the context of a primitive economcy and a natural life cycle of
dependent childhood, productive parenthood, and dependent grand-
parenthood" was developed by Neher (1971: 381). He noted that since
parents cannot store goods for consumption during their unproductive
retirement years, "the only way for them to consume while retired is by
means of an income transfer from the working generation. This transfer
is assured by the share alike ethic which serves as an unwritten and
continuing intergenerational construct whereby the workers agree to
support the retired" (Neher, 1971: 381).
Neher's model covers three periods - one full period during which
1. In societies where precedents and life-style demand the pooling together of resources by all members of the family for the common good of all, children are imbued, from an early age, with the spirit of mutual obligation. The question of parental support by children is therefore not nearly as simple as Enke and Brown have suggested. They hypothesized that "sexual desire results in intercourse that occasionally results in children and the ability and willingness of adult children to support their parents is fortunate for the latter but irrelevant as a determinant of family size" (Enke and Brown, 1972: 241) (emphasis mine). Filial obligations are not necessarily visualized ns "luck" in the sense that adult children are likely to be restive about their responsibilities (cf. Imoagene, 1976:11^ but more in terms of the awareness that individuals are not all endowed with equal capabilities. Thus, the more children one has, the greater the probability that a reasonable number will have the capacity to fulfil the roles expected of them.
parents work and their children arc dependent; another full period
during which the children work and parents are dependent; and a third
period "during which children of the original parents are dependent
grandparents" (p. 382). The constraining factors in tlie model are "the
production conditions, the share alike ethic, the fertility of future
generations and interperiod mortality" (p.382). The interrelation
between production and consumption in the three periods is stated as
follows: in the first period, having many children reduces per capita
product (on the basis of the principle of decreasing marginal returns).
In the second period "per capita consumption increases as more workers
are added" (as long as marginal productivity exceeds per capita
consumption). "Third period per capita consumption falls with larger
numbers of first period children" if the given amount of third period
product "must be shared with a larger retired generation" (p.383). He,
however, noted that the consequences of a fertility decision span through
three periods, "but the parents are dead during the third period" (p.382).
The analysis suggests that, in the second period, the "pension
effect" is reasonably strong. For one thing, however, the analysis is
based on the assumption that the pension motive is "the major motive
for childbearing" (p.380). Thus, he restricted the application of the
"share alike ethic" to the period when parents are dependent. Here
again the model does not take account of the productive contributions of
children even before parents become unproductive. Studies that have
focused on time budget analysis of children's activities within the
household show that from young ages children begin to assist parents and
to contribute, within the limits of their capabilities, to family
maintenance and production efforts.
2.3.6 Time Budget Analysis of Children’s Economic Activities
assess the contribution of children to household income and resources in agricultural societies. Such broader definitions should include agricultural and pastoral labour, house building and maintenance,
spinning and weaving, marketing, shopping, transportation, fuel collecting, water carrying, processing and preparation of food, washing clothes and utensils, childcare and so on (Nag, 1972: 74). Most of these activities significantly involve children’s participation in agricultural societies. The extent of children's involvement can be evaluated through data on time spent by individuals in various activities.
Benjamin White (1975) collected data in Jogjakarta on time expended and earnings from different types of activities for members of 40 house holds by age and sex. His sample consisted of small farmers and land less labourers, three-quarters of whom could not meet the average per capita rice requirement estimated at 125 kilograms per year. He noted that the large majority of his sample had to rely on share-cropping on other people's land for which they paid the land tax and rent equivalent of half of the total yield; agricultural wage labour during hoeing, planting and harvesting of irrigated rice; handicraft for cash sale
(mainly the making of sleeping mats by women and mats for drying rice by men); small scale trading, animal husbandry (which involves the hire of labour by richer households to care for their animals); and
food production for sale (White, 1975: 5-8). However, White noted that the rice receipts from these activities may well exceed the rice requirement of one adult but are definitely not enough to meet the needs of a family of four to six persons, let alone other daily expenditures on kerosene, tobacco, etc. "In such conditions, all family members in addition to the household head must take whatever labour opportunities there are in order to meet the household's needs" (White, 1975: 8).
57.
For those without enough land or capital for trading, the most profitable and paying activity is the provision of wage labour for others in
agriculture.
With regard to the actual number of hours spent in work each day, White found that the adult males and females spent nine hours and twelve hours respectively. On the other hand, girls aged 13-18 years, "almost equal the adult contribution while children in the other groups contribute about half as much with the exception of boys of 7-9 who contribute only one-quarter of the adult working hours" (White, 1975: 14).
Other studies which have investigated the amount of time spent by children on various activities and which show similar trends include those of Peet (1977 in a Napalese village),Barkat-e-Khuda (1976 in a Bangladesh village), T. Hull (1975 in a Javanese village) and Nurge (1956 in rural Philippines).
However the adoption of the time budget approach in the measurement of the net contribution of children to household economy is compounded by a number of limitations.
(a) The peak and trough in seasons in agricultural activities introduces a bias in the time budget data if such data are all collected within a particular season (Nag, 1972: 82; Nurge, 1956: 8).
(b) There is a problem involved in recording the time for activities performed simultaneously and which overlap the time units adopted for measurement. Thus, for instance, a girl could be looking after her younger sibling for three hours while her mother is out in the market place and within
this time the girl may also wash dishes for 15 minutes, sweep the house for 10 minutes, etc. In such circumstances, it is fairly difficult to separate the time for the various activities performed simultaneously (Nag, 1972: 80; Barkat-e-Khuda,
(c) With particular reference to productivity, it does not always
follow that the more time expended on an activity, the larger
the productivity. In activities that require physical
exertion such as hoeing and making mounds, a child may spend
more time doing the same amount of work that an adult would do
in a shorter time. On the other hand, activities such as
child-minding and scaring off birds involve equal amounts of
time for both children and adults with virtually no difference
in the volume of service rendered.
(d) In terms of measuring the net value of children, the time
budget approach presents a one-sided picture. While it is
detailed in its presentation of the kinds of activities
engaged in by children and the amount of time expended on
such activities, it does not take account of the cost aspects
of raising children (White, 1975; Nag, 1972).
These limitations notwithstanding, the time budget approach appears
to be a useful measure in quantitative analysis of the volume of children’s
labour contributions to household production efforts.
2.3.7_____ The Questionnaire Approach towards a Balancing of Economic
Costs and Benefits of Children
Apart from the methodoligies presented above, other researchers
have adopted methods of measurement deriving directly from what parents
themselves have to say about the economic costs and benefits of children
to them. This method "involves questionnaire studies and related
inquiries which attempt to determine directly the degree of felt, and/or
appreciated economic benefits of children and the felt burdens of
children to households in developing countries" (Leibenstein, 1974: 466).
As early as 1967, Caldwell had adopted this method in his study of
59.
methodology in a large scale study of the value of children among the
Yorubas of Nigeria. Fundamentally, the method attempts to assess
parents' beliefs about whether children are economic assets or economic
liabilities (Caldwell, 1967: 266). It goes beyond merely asking
parents about the advantages and disadvantages of having many children
and includes investigation of:
(a) the kinds of work done by children of various ages,
educational status and sex;
(b) the age at which children earn their keep;
(c) parental assessment of costs and returns of various
categories of children;
(d) parental assessment of the balance between costs and returns
of children.
By focusing on parental evaluation of the economic costs and benefits
of children this method allows for some flexibility in regard to costs
not actually borne by parents, and returns that accrue to persons other
than parents.
In the present study, the focus is (as was mentioned in the intro
ductory part of this chapter) on the questionnaire approach. In
Chapters 9 and 10, aspects of the issues discussed in this chapter
regarding the motivations for childbearing and the parental assessment
of the balance between economic costs and benefits of children as they
relate to the Ibos will be dealt with in detail.
This study examines the various components of costs and returns
within the wider context of Ibo social organization, with particular
reference to the extended family obligation which allows for the sharing
of returns and costs by parents and other relatives. This should have
important implications for parents' family size goal which would depend
on their perception of the direction to which the cost-benefit balance
CHAPTER 3