The perceived value of children among the Sudanese and Javanese

Abstract

The survey which forms the basis of this study was carried out amongst the two largest cultural groups in Indonesia, the Sundanese and the Javanese, in 1975. It was part of the second phase of the Cross-national Value of children (VOC) Project. This study specifically attempted to investigate the perceived value of children of the high and low socio-economic status groups within the two societies (Sundanese and Javanese). Classifications of socio-economic strata in the selection of sample areas were based on the data on agricultural density, road distance from an urban centre, proportion of the labour force in agriculture, proportion of the labour force in commerce and industry, and proportion of agricultural land under irrigation. The differences between socio-economic groups within the two societies in their perceived values of children, and the correlations between the values and attitude towards family planning were examined in this study. Some factors that are considered to have influences on the relationships between the values of children and attitude towards family planning of the respective groups were also examined. The psychological advantages of having children were more important for the high socio-economic than the low socio-economic groups, whereas the economic advantage of children were more important for the low socio-economic than the high socio-economic groups. The emotional costs were stressed more by the respondents of the high socio-economic than the low socio-economic groups, and more by female respondents. The low socio-economic groups had stronger awareness of the economic costs of children than the high socio-economic groups.