SOUTHEAST ASIA FERTILITY PROJECT
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MEASUREMENT
Infant and Child Mortality
Infant and child mortality, in addition to being an important index of
socioeconomic development, also has a well-developed theoretical link to
the motivation for childbearing. With a lack of institutional-based pensions,
parents see their adult children as providers of old-age assistance. Under
conditions of high mortality, parents are likely to "insure" themselves
with extra births. On the other hand, when mortality begins to decline,
families may begin to see large families as an impediment to social mobility
or status maintenance (Davis, 1963).