Does Large Family Size Reduce Investment in Children?
In an effort to advance economic and social growth, many developing countries, are striving to reduce fertility rates and population growth. Government leaders and policy makers have shaped population policy according to the perception that family size and educational investment in children are inversely related. Current population policy emphasizes the economic and social importance of reduced fertility rates supplemented with increased investment in education as an important growth strategy. However, as demonstrated by Kelley (1996) and Anh and colleagues (1998), evidence supporting this relationship is weak and inconsistent. There is a lack of compelling data to support the existence of a significant negative association between family size and educational investment in children. More importantly, we have even less reason to believe that large families actually cause decreased educational investment. Recent research conducted by Kelley and Anh et al. attempts to assess the existence
