ABSTRACT
The main implication of socioeconomic ecological change is that the status of individuals within Bedouin society may be undergoing change, entailing also changes in their wellbeing. This chapter examines these changes with regard to the status of children, elders and women whose role has changed considerably. These changes are interrelated but those relating to children and elders are of particular interest. The role of the elder in matchmaking for his children is another status property of major importance. The trends among the real Bedouin and the fellahi Bedouin in this regard are contrasting. The changing status of Bedouin women in the Negev has received extensive attention. The economic and sociopolitical dimensions of the value of children among the traditional nomadic and seminomadic Bedouin, articulated into the theistic dimension, shape the normative view of maximization of fertility within this society. The sociopolitical and economic status of Bedouin elders has also deteriorated.
