Old age security and the utility of children in Rural India

Summary This study investigates old age security as a possible motivation for high fertility, using information gathered by means of questionnaires and participant observation in an Indian village during 1975-76. Results indicated that such motivation may be quite weak, and hence that population policies aimed at lowering the economic value of children through public social security programmes would achieve little. A variety of evidence pointed to the importance of economic assets, mainly land, in assuring security in old age rather than an abundance of sons. Moreover, given a low expectation of life the necessity to provide support to the aged was infrequent, a fact which seemed to be appreciated by the surveyed villagers.