ABSTRACT
Families have from four up to ten or more children. Younger children are expected to assist with agricultural and livestock-management tasks, while older children who have left school often attend institutes of higher education in the main city, Almaty. Married sons and their wives usually continue to reside with the son’s parents until some years after the birth of their children and in some cases until the death of the parents. Bride price is given, usually in the form of livestock, by a groom’s parents to the bride’s family. Married sons typically have a joint share in their parent’s livestock and crop land, and manage these together with their parents and other siblings. When daughters marry, they settle in their husband’s home and contribute their labour to their husband’s family.
