I was reading an assignment for a sociology class that started a
discussion with my husband about parental willingness to pay for their
children's college education.
The authors of the article said that parents rationally calculate the
financial payoffs to themselves of paying for their children's college
and were more likely to pay if the child exhibits academic prowess
because it increases their ability to make lots of money. I wonder,
though, whether those parents expect to see any of that money, either
as payback or as help during retirement. I think that most parents
don't even consider possible financial benefit to themselves; instead,
they pay because they want feelings of success, for the chlidren, and
for themselves. This seems to me a more likely motivation than
financial rewards. My husband, on the other hand, thinks parents are
even MORE altruistic; parents, he says, pay for college merely because
they know it will result in big payoffs FOR THEIR KIDS. Not expecting
anything in return, they make the sacrifice because they care about
their children's future well-being. While I agree that this attitude
would be the ideal, I suspect most people engage in at least a little
calculation of costs and benefits for themselves. After all, some
families refuse to sup****t a wayward or ungrateful child, and some even
disown them entirely if they reject family traditions or goals. I
think few parents are as altruistic as my husband imagines.
Which do you agree with?
Which motivations do you think represent the majority of the
population?
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