Factors Affecting Children’s Economic Value in Turkey: A Sociological Analysis of the 2016 Family Structure Research
Sutay Yavuz, Fuat GüllüpınarThis study examines the factors affecting parents’ economic (material) expectations from their children in Turkey through data from the 2016 Family Structure Research (2016 Aile Yapısı Araştırması). The data analysis shows the level of economic contribution expected from children to be significantly lower for individuals from younger generations who have lived longer in an urban social environment, have fewer children, have higher education and socioeconomic statuses, and have adopted more secular attitudes compared to those from older generations who lived longer in rural settlements, have more children, have lower educational and socioeconomic statuses, and have more religious attitudes. The study indicates the financial benefits expected from children to decrease as a result of the egalitarian values that emerge in children and the increased importance given to children’s autonomy, individual life, and success, especially for secular and tolerant individuals with higher socioeconomic and educational statuses.
Türkiye’de Çocuğun Ekonomik Değerini Etkileyen Faktörler: 2016 Aile Yapısı Araştırması Analizi Üzerinden Sosyolojik Bir Değerlendirme
Sutay Yavuz, Fuat GüllüpınarBu çalışmanın amacı; 2016 ‘Aile Yapısı Araştırmasının (TAYA 2016)’ verilerine dayalı olarak anne-babaların çocuklara ilişkin ekonomik beklentilerini etkileyen faktörleri analiz etmek ve bu faktörlerin güncel boyutlarını değerlendirmektir. Çalışma esas olarak Türk toplumunda uzun yıllardır yaşanan ekonomik, kültürel ve sosyal değişimlerin bağlamını dikkate alarak; bireylerin demografik, sosyoekonomik, kültürel ve yerleşim yeri özelliklerinin çocuğun ekonomik değerine/maddi faydasına atfettikleri anlamları önemli ölçüde belirlediği varsayımına dayanmaktadır. Verilerin analizi sonucunda, daha genç kuşaklardan olan, daha az çocuğu olan, daha yüksek eğitim ve sosyoekonomik statüye sahip, daha seküler tutumları benimsemiş, kent sosyal ortamında daha uzun süredir yaşayan bireylerin çocuklardan maddi/ ekonomik katkı beklenti düzeyinin daha ileri yaşlarda olan, daha düşük eğitime ve sosyo-ekonomik statüye sahip, daha dindar tutumları benimsemiş ve daha kırsal özellikte ki yerleşim yerlerinde yaşayan bireylerden anlamlı derecede düşük olduğu bulunmuştur. Sonuç olarak, Türkiye’de modernleşme dinamikleriyle birlikte, eğitimli, sosyo-ekonomik statüsü yüksek, seküler değerleri benimsemiş ve tolerans seviyesi yüksek bireylerde daha fazla olmak üzere, çocuklara yönelik eşitlikçi değerlerin öne çıktığına ve özellikle çocuğun özerkliğine, bireysel yaşantısına ve başarısına verilen önemin artmasına bağlı olarak çocukluktan maddi fayda beklentisinin azaldığından bahsedilebilir.
Turkey has experienced significant social transformations such as industrialization, urbanization, economic development, raising education level, internal and external migration and globalization since the second half of the 20th century up to the present. Together with this rapid economic and social change, Turkey’s social structure has transformed from traditional, rural, agricultural, and patriarchal to an industrial society with increasingly modern and urban. Despite all these changes, Turkey generally still has a family-oriented social structure (Öztan, 2014). However, the claim that the patriarchal family ideology has wholly lost influence in all segments of society is difficult to argue.
The aim of this study is to assess and evaluate what is expected economically from children based on data from the 2016 Turkish Family Structure Research carried out by the Turkey Statistical Institute (TurkStat) and the Ministry of Family and Social Policy (ASPB). The study is mainly based on the assumption that individuals’ demographic, socioeconomic, cultural and residential characteristics significantly affect the meanings attributed to children’s economic value/material benefit. According to this approach, the level of financial/economic contribution expected from children is argued to be significantly lower for those from younger generations who have lived longer duration in an urban social environment, have fewer children, have higher education and socioeconomic statuses and adopt more secular attitudes compared to those from older generations in rural settlement with more children, lower education and socioeconomic statuses and more religious attitudes.
Methodology
Micro-data from the 2016 Turkish Family Structure Research (TurkStat, 2016b) has been analyzed using the multinomial logistic regression model. The analysis unit consists of individuals with at least one child of their own or as a step-parent.
Dependent Variable
In the model, the participants who stated agreeing (68.5%) with the expression “Once grown up, children should financially support their parents” have been defined as the reference category for the dependent variable.
Independent Variables
The last categories have been defined as the reference category for the independent variables.
Demographic variables.
These include gender (1 = female; 2 = male), age (between 15-29 years old = 1; between 30-39 = 2; between 40 and 49 = 3; and 50 or older = 4) and number of children (one child = 1; two children = 2; three children = 3; and four children and above = 4).
Socioeconomic variables. These include education level (university level or higher = 1, high school = 2, primary/secondary school = 3, and never finished grade school = 4) and household income level (highest = 1, high = 2, upper middle = 3, lower middle = 4, low = 5, and lowest = 6).
Cultural attitude variables. These variables involve: Gender preference for an only child (respondents were asked to answer the question, “If you were to have only one child, what would you want your child’s gender to be?” with answers rated as girl = 1, boy = 2, and doesn’t matter = 3), the impact of religious belief on life (index variable where no impact = 1, low impact = 2, moderate impact = 3, and high impact = 4), and tolerance levels (index variable where tolerant = 1, partially tolerant = 2, and not tolerant = 3).
NUTS-1 Regions. These include the place where one resided until the age of 15 (Provincial center = 1, District center = 2, Overseas = 3, and town/village = 4) and NUTS-1 geographical regions (Istanbul = 1, Western Marmara = 2, Aegean = 3, Eastern Marmara = 4, Western Anatolia = 5, Mediterranean = 6, Central Anatolia = 7, Western Black Sea = 8, Eastern Black Sea = 9, Northeast Anatolia = 10, Middle-East Anatolia = 11, and Southeast Anatolia = 12).
No multicollinearity has been found among the independent variables.
Results
Our study has shown the last model containing the independent variables to perform better than the fixed model (intercepts only). All the independent variables included in the model contribute significantly to the model itself.
Gender. Female respondents tend to disagree with the expression “Once having grown up, children should financially support their parents” (the dependent variable) 26% more than male respondents.
Age. Younger respondents tend to disagree with this expression significantly more than respondents 50 years and older.
Number of child. Respondents with one or two children tend to disagree with this expression significantly more than respondents with three or more children.
Education level. Respondents with high school or higher education levels tend to disagree with this expression significantly more than respondents with lower education levels.
Household welfare level. The higher one’s household welfare level, the higher the probablity one will disagree with this expression.
Gender preference for an only child. Taking the answer “It doesn’t matter” as the reference point, those who prefer a daughter tend to disagree with the expression (dependent variable) 14% more.
The effect of religious beliefs on life practices. A negative and significant relationship has been detected between the level of the effect of religious belief on life practices with the tendency to disagree with the expression. Thus, the expected level of financial contribution is significantly lower among respondents with more secular attitudes compared to those with religious ones.
Tolerance level. Those who responded being more tolerant of differences in malefemale relations and marriage tend to disagree with the expression “Once having grown up, children should financially support their parents” significantly more than those who responded as not being tolerant.
Type of place of residence Residence locale until the age of 15. Respondents who resided in urban locales such as “provincial centers” and “district centers” longer until the age of 15 tend to disagree or partially agree with this expression significantly more than respondents who had lived mostly in “town” or “village settlements.”
NUTS-1 Regions: Every region of Turkey tends to disagree with this expression more compared to the Southeast Anatolian Region which is the reference category of the research.
Discussion and Conclusion
The vast majority of women in Turkey are not included in the labor force. Therefore, most women do not have direct social security. Thus, women in Turkey have relatively lower incomes than men in general and are mostly covered by social security through their husbands/fathers. However, the findings from the model show that, while keeping all other variables being kept under control, women tend to reject expecting children to contribute economically to their parents more than men. One noteworthy finding from the study is that despite their relatively less secure socioeconomic conditions, women are more inclined than men to change the traditional social acceptance. When evaluating participants’ approaches with respect to age group and number of children, our model’s findings are seen to overlap with the findings from previous studies. Participants younger than middle-aged with one or two children tend to have lower economic expectations from their compare to those middle-aged and older with more than two children. The same situation is valid for the socioeconomic and residence variables we used in our study; participants with higher education and economic status levels who have lived longer in urban areas have significantly lower expectations of economic contributions from their children when they grow up compared to those with lower education and economic status levels who have lived longer in rural areas. This finding is also consistent with the results from previous studies.
The model demonstrates that the more secular and more tolerant participants differ from the more religious and less tolerant participants by “not having economic expectations from children.” Therefore, even among individuals with similar socioeconomic conditions, having different cultural attitudes and thoughts can have an impact that is able to vary perceptions and expectations regarding children. This finding is the current study’s most original contribution to the relevant literature. Our study shows that socio-cultural tendencies and attitudes in particular should be taken into consideration in studies on the values and perceptions attributed to children.
In conclusion, our study demonstrates one of the most important changes in the family structure in Turkey to be the decrease in economic expectations from children as a result of variations in demographics, education level, and economic status; increased prosperity and secularization; increased tolerance toward differences; and the urbanization of the population. As a matter of fact, this situation is closely related to the fact that children in today’s globalized world of consumption have turned into a consumer issue that causes certain expenses for families rather than providing economic benefits.
