Gender, Marriage

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Gender, Marriage and the Family
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Factors That Need to Be Considered in Calculating
the Economic Costs and Benefits Associated with
Children

1. The economic costs of pregnancy and childbirth.
2. The cost of feeding, clothing, educating and
   caring for children at various ages.
3. The cost of all the social and ritual obligations
   incurred in raising a child.
4. The Opportunity Costs involved in the
   production and reading of each additional child.
5. The probability that a child will survive to a
   given age.
6. The value of children as a source of productive
   or useful labor in the household economy.
7. The value of children as sources of support for
   parents in old age.

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• If one sex helps either its parents or its
  siblings to survive, then this sex becomes
  relatively cheaper to raise.
• As a result, the sex ratio will become biased in
  its favor.

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On the Economic Value of Children
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The Economic Importance of Children in a
Javanese Village -Benjamin White
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Children begin to support the family at a very
young age.
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The Economic Activities of Children
in a Village in Bangladesh. -Mead Cain,

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Parents throughout the world, most notably rural
farmers and the urban poor in developing
countries, depend heavily on their children when
they get old.
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Higher Economic Value of Male Children
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Farm Income and Expenses
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Jat children maintain the highest rate of school
attendance in Manupur. The rate is equal for boys
and girls in elementary school, but not in
secondary school.
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Not as high a percentage of children attend
school among the lower castes, but a
significantly higher percentage of boys do than
girls, especially secondary school.
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It makes sense that those who depend heavily upon
children (sons) for survival would evolve a value
system that makes a virtue out of reproduction
and that emphasizes the importance of producing
and rearing male children.
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Infant mortality rates are very high in many
under-developed countries, making it difficult to
be assured of having many children survive to
adulthood.
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Even the worst cities for infant mortality in the
U.S. have only a fraction of the infant mortality
rates that are common throughout much of the
Third World.
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Infanticide
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• Infanticide Must be Understood as Part of a
  Familys Overall Family Planning Behavior.
• The decision regarding how many children a couple
  will have is determined by a variety of
  considerations.
• Understanding the Cost/Benefit considerations
  that a couple faces is a powerful predictor of
  fertility behavior.
• 3. This includes not only the number of
  children a family will produce, but also the sex
  of those children.

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Inuit Ecology Female Infanticide
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Inuit Infanticide Franz Boas Netsilik Sex
Ratio (1902) 138 boys and 66 girls 209
males / 100 females ______________________________
_______________ Rasmussen Netsilik (1923)
--96 births in 18 marriages / 38 girls
killed --Adult Population 150 males
/ 109 females ____________________________________
_________
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Yanomamo Sex Ratio Data (Male/Female) Age
Group Central Villages Peripheral
Villages 0 14 157 / 100 126
/ 100 all ages 130 / 100 115 /
100 _____________________________________________
Explanation preferential female infanticide,
followed by differential male mortality in
warfare
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Study of 160 Chinese Women over 50 Total
Fertility 631 sons / 538 daughters M / F
117 / 100 158 females had been killed / 0
males Subsequent Sex Ratio M / F 166 /
100 __________________________________________
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Japan Birth control techniques used 1.
Abortion (chemical and mechanical) 2.
Infanticide --preferred by rural peasants a.
10 25 of live births b. less risky c.
allowed removal of defectives d. facilitated
manipulation of sex ratio
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Japanese Sex Ratios 1750 1000 males / 876
females M/F ratio 114/100 _________________
_____________________ Japanese sex ratios
declined steadily, but did not achieve parity
until 1950. ______________________________________
_ In 1750, Japan was an agricultural society.
By 1950, Japan was a major
industrial power.
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Infant mortality rates are very high in many
under-developed countries, making it difficult to
be assured of having many children survive to
adulthood.
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Even the worst cities for infant mortality in the
U.S. have only a fraction of the infant mortality
rates that are common throughout much of the
Third World.
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Evolution of an Urban-Industrial Economy

• Shift to a Wage Economy
• Rise of the Nuclear Family
• Changing Relation of Parents to Children
• Changing Relation of Children to Parents
• Changing Relation between Husband and Wife
• Increased pressure on nuclear family to provide
  for its own retirement.

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Shift to a Post-Industrial Economy

• Increased economic pressure on families
• Shift to 2-paycheck family
• Cost / Benefit implications of having children
• Decline in fertility
• Increased pressure on individuals to save
• Increased pressure on individuals
• Increased divorce rate
• Increased pressure on women to provide for their
  retirement
• Greater pressure for women to work

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Cost of Children in U.S. (Price Waterhouose for
New York Times) New York City married
professional couple with one child under age
4. One Paycheck Two
Paychecks Income Husband 70,000
Husband 70,000 Wife 50,000 Total
Income 70,000 120,000 Taxes
Federal, State, Local, Soc. Sec. Total
Taxes 21,848 44,534 Additional Expenses
Child Care, Work Clothing,
Commuting, Lunches/coffee 21,385 Total
Expenses 21,848 65,919 Net Income
48,152 54,061
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Children and Earning Power     
One Two Three or
More Child Children
Children     Chinatown 36,520
19,357 19,000 Washington Heights
37,000 28,085 35,800 Morningside Heights
19,924 30,240 39,372 East Harlem
48,000 27,500 22,488 Central Harlem
52,000 42,148 43,732 Chelsea 48,750
24,200 14,000 Greenwich Village 60,300
44,500 80,150 Upper West Side
98,650 122,000 100,400 Upper East
Side 120,000 142,000 302,975
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Having more children tends to reduce a familys
earning power in the U.S., except among the
wealthiest portion of American society.