Social Class and Parental Investment in Children

2015 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne H. Gauthier
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Parental Investment ◽  
Investment In Children

scholarly journals Costly children: the motivations for parental investment in children in a low fertility context

Genus ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne H. Gauthier ◽  
Petra W. de Jong
Keyword(s):  
Parental Investment ◽  
Low Fertility ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Time Investment ◽  
Investment In Children ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Self Development ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Human And Social Capital ◽  
Large Investment

AbstractWhile the literature has documented a general increase in parental investment in children, both in terms of financial and time investment, the motives for this increase remain unclear. This paper aims at shedding light on these motives by examining parents’ own narratives of their parenting experiences from the vantage point of three theoretical perspectives. In doing so, the paper brings side-by-side the goal of providing children with human and social capital to improve their future labour market prospects, the pressures on parents to conform to new societal standards of good and intensive parenting, and the experience of parenting as part of self-development. The data come from a qualitative study of middle-income parents in Canada and the USA. The results provide some support for each of these perspectives, while also revealing how they jointly help explain parents’ large investment in their children as well as the tensions and contradictions that come with it.

scholarly journals Parental Investment in Children with Chronic Disease: The Effect of Child's and Mother's Age

2007 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 147470490700500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sigal Tifferet ◽  
Orly Manor ◽  
Shlomi Constantini ◽  
Orna Friedman ◽  
Yoel Elizur
Keyword(s):  
Parental Investment ◽  
Maternal Age ◽  
Direct Care ◽  
Reproductive Value ◽  
Negatively Associated ◽  
Investment In Children ◽  
Maternal Age Effect ◽  
Neurological Conditions ◽  
Mother’S Age ◽  
The Impact

Parents do not invest their resources in their children equally. Three factors which elicit differential parental investment are the parent's reproductive value, the child's reproductive value (RV), and the impact of the investment on the child (II). As the child matures, his RV increases while the II may decrease. This raises a question regarding the favored strategy of investment by child age. It was hypothesized that different categories of parental investment generate different age-based strategies. Emotional investment, such as maternal worrying for the child's health, was hypothesized to increase with the child's age, while direct care was hypothesized to decrease with the child's age. Both categories were hypothesized to increase with the mother's age at childbirth. 137 Israeli mothers of children with chronic neurological conditions reported levels of worrying for their child and levels of change in direct care. Maternal worrying about the child's health was positively associated with the child's age at diagnosis and the severity of his illness, and negatively associated with the time from diagnosis. An increase in direct care was positively associated with maternal age at childbirth and illness severity, and negatively associated with the time from diagnosis, and the duration of the marriage. Contrary to the hypothesis, the child's age had no effect on changes in direct care. It appears that in mothers of children with adverse neurological conditions, child and maternal age effect parental investment differently. While the child's age is related to maternal worrying about his health, the mother's age at childbirth is related to changes in direct care.

scholarly journals The expendable male hypothesis

2019 ◽  
Vol 374 (1780) ◽  
pp. 20180080 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siobhán M. Mattison ◽  
Robert J. Quinlan ◽  
Darragh Hare
Keyword(s):  
Parental Investment ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Ecological Conditions ◽  
Investment In Children ◽  
Female Line ◽  
Biological Children

Matriliny is a system of kinship in which descent and inheritance are conferred along the female line. The theoretically influential concept of the matrilineal puzzle posits that matriliny poses special problems for understanding men's roles in matrilineal societies. Ethnographic work describes the puzzle as the tension experienced by men between the desire to exert control over their natal kin (i.e. the lineage to which they belong) and over their affinal kin (i.e. their spouses and their biological children). Evolutionary work frames the paradox as one resulting from a man investing in his nieces and nephews at the expense of his own biological offspring. In both cases, the rationale for the puzzle rests on two fundamental assumptions: (i) that men are in positions of authority over women and over resources; and (ii) that men are interested in the outcomes of parenting. In this paper, we posit a novel hypothesis that suggests that certain ecological conditions render men expendable within local kinship configurations, nullifying the above assumptions. This arises when (i) women, without significant assistance from men, are capable of meeting the subsistence needs of their families; and (ii) men have little to gain from parental investment in children. We conclude that the expendable male hypothesis may explain the evolution of matriliny in numerous cases, and by noting that female-centred approaches that call into doubt assumptions inherent to male-centred models of kinship are justified in evolutionary perspective. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The evolution of female-biased kinship in humans and other mammals’.

scholarly journals The expendable male hypothesis

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siobhán M. Mattison ◽  
Robert J. Quinlan ◽  
Darragh Hare
Keyword(s):  
Parental Investment ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Ecological Conditions ◽  
Investment In Children ◽  
Female Line ◽  
Biological Children

AbstractMatriliny is a system of kinship in which descent and inheritance are conferred along the female line. The theoretically influential concept of the matrilineal puzzle posits that matriliny poses special problems for understanding men’s roles in matrilineal societies. Ethnographic work describes the puzzle as the tension experienced by men between the desire to exert control over their natal kin (i.e., the lineage to which they belong) and over their affinal kin (i.e., their spouses and their biological children). Evolutionary work frames the paradox as one resulting from a man investing in his nieces and nephews at the expense of his own biological offspring. In both cases, the rationale for the puzzle rests on two fundamental assumptions: (i) that men are always in positions of authority over women and over resources; and (ii) that men are interested in the outcomes of parenting. In this paper, we posit a novel hypothesis that suggests that certain ecological conditions render men expendable within local kinship configurations, nullifying the above assumptions. This arises when (i) women, without significant assistance from men, are capable of meeting the subsistence needs of their families; and (ii) men have little to gain from parental investment in children. We conclude that the expendable male hypothesis may explain the evolution of matriliny in numerous cases, and by noting that female-centered approaches that call into doubt assumptions inherent to male-centered models of kinship are justified in evolutionary perspective.

scholarly journals Adult sex ratio and social status predict mating and parenting strategies in Northern Ireland

2017 ◽  
Vol 372 (1729) ◽  
pp. 20160318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Uggla ◽  
Ruth Mace
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Parental Investment ◽  
Pair Bond ◽  
Mate Value ◽  
Stable Pair ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
Bond Stability ◽  
Adult Sex Ratio

Evidence from animal species indicates that a male-biased adult sex ratio (ASR) can lead to higher levels of male parental investment and that there is heterogeneity in behavioural responses to mate scarcity depending on mate value. In humans, however, there is little consistent evidence of the effect of the ASR on pair-bond stability and parental investment and even less of how it varies by an individual's mate value. In this paper we use detailed census data from Northern Ireland to test the association between the ASR and pair-bond stability and parental investment by social status (education and social class) as a proxy for mate value. We find evidence that female, but not male, cohabitation is associated with the ASR. In female-biased areas women with low education are less likely to be in a stable pair-bond than highly educated women, but in male-biased areas women with the lowest education are as likely to be in a stable pair-bond as their most highly educated peers. For both sexes risk of separation is greater at female-biased sex ratios. Lastly, our data show a weak relationship between parental investment and the ASR that depends on social class. We discuss these results in the light of recent reformulations of parental investment theory. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Adult sex ratios and reproductive decisions: a critical re-examination of sex differences in human and animal societies’.

The Primary Parental Investment in Children in the Contemporary USA is Education

Human Nature ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosemary L. Hopcroft ◽  
David O. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Parental Investment ◽  
Investment In Children

Parental Investment in Early Childhood

2019 ◽  
pp. 69-81
Author(s):  
Hajali Dhouha
Keyword(s):  
Parental Investment ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Eastern Area ◽  
Investment In Children ◽  
Good Investment ◽  
Investment Level ◽  
Leisure And Recreation ◽  
Composite Scores ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Shed Light

This paper aims to assess and estimate parental investment in children in four activities: education, health, leisure and nurture. The author first analyzes constructed composite scores and observed similarity for parental investment in health and differences in the other activities but the investment level is little enough. The author next provides new empirical evidence to shed light on the relationship between the level of parental investment and characteristics of the child, the mother and the household. Using Poisson and Negative Binominal regression models on household micro-data, the author finds good investment level in health but weak in education and almost unawareness of leisure and recreation. The education is linked to mothers' attitude and the household lifestyle is slightly valuable for the Center-Eastern area and the capital city. On the contrary, nurture activity is not linked to the lifestyle and exhibit regional differences. Moreover, households in the East of the country are more investing then those in the west.

Parental Investment in Early Childhood

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Hajali Dhouha
Keyword(s):  
Parental Investment ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Eastern Area ◽  
Investment In Children ◽  
Good Investment ◽  
Investment Level ◽  
Leisure And Recreation ◽  
Composite Scores ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Shed Light

This paper aims to assess and estimate parental investment in children in four activities: education, health, leisure and nurture. The author first analyzes constructed composite scores and observed similarity for parental investment in health and differences in the other activities but the investment level is little enough. The author next provides new empirical evidence to shed light on the relationship between the level of parental investment and characteristics of the child, the mother and the household. Using Poisson and Negative Binominal regression models on household micro-data, the author finds good investment level in health but weak in education and almost unawareness of leisure and recreation. The education is linked to mothers' attitude and the household lifestyle is slightly valuable for the Center-Eastern area and the capital city. On the contrary, nurture activity is not linked to the lifestyle and exhibit regional differences. Moreover, households in the East of the country are more investing then those in the west.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document