The Value of the Child in Turkiye: Prospective Human Capital

The shift from viewing children as economically valuable contributors to emotionally priceless beings, a process known as the "sacralization of the child" (Zelizer, 1985), has become more evident throughout the 20th century. This shift has reshaped parental investments in response to societal and economic changes. With the rise of knowledge, technology, and human capital as drivers of social mobility, parents are increasingly focused on ensuring their children’s future success in an uncertain world. Neoliberal shifts have individualized concerns about the future, prompting parents to dedicate more time, resources, and emotional energy to their children’s development. The ideology of intensive parenting (Hays, 1996) reinforces this trend, emphasising close monitoring of a child's growth and decision-making based on expert guidance, which demands substantial financial and emotional investments. This study examines the impact of cultural and economic trends on the value of children in Turkiye, with a particular focus on the role of human capital and intensive parenting in shaping public policies and cultural perceptions of the child. The descriptive data from from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) and the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) after the 2012-13, the year of transition to the 4+4+4 education system, demonstrate a shift in the activities in which children engage, with a reduction in child labour and household reproductive work, and an increase in goal-oriented activities with parents and extra curricular activities. Schooling rates and investments in education have both steadily risen, with contributions from both the state and private households. As a result, it is suggested that this reflects the growing view of children as useful and valuable for their human capital, combining both economic and psychological elements, and highlights the child’s human capitalisation (Bandelj & Spiegel, 2023) in Turkish context.