ABSTRACT
The continued rapid growth of population in many parts of the world and the failure of most family-planning campaigns makes the topic of the value and desirability of children into more than a purely academic one. If some general theory could be devised which would account for the very different fertility rates and attitudes to fertility in different societies, this would be of practical as well as theoretical importance. Despite intensive research and a vast expenditure of time and money we still do not know how to influence reproduction, largely because we do not yet know why children are highly valued. Yet the importance of the topic justifies what is bound to be an over-ambitious solution to the puzzle. Firstly we may briefly look at some previous theories which provide hints of a solution, but which in their crude form have not been accepted. The question we are seeking to answer is this: what accounts for the very large differences in attitudes towards having children in various societies?
