accounts of fertility variations across cultures increasingly have come to be formulated in terms of relative value of children to their parents. This value has been examined in diverse spheres of life and in different social environments, principally by economists and psychologists who are concerned to identify and measure specific benefits and costs entailed. The apparent attractiveness of the approach lies in its ability to bring together vast quantities of information within a single framework of explanation to account for fertility variations at both the aggregate and individual level and to provide standardised methodologies for investigations of the subject. In theory, the approach should offer considerable insight into cross-cultural variation. However, as yet little of that potential has been realised. The author believes that one of the factors hindering the development of a more flexible, cross-culturally appropriate methodology has been narrow conceptions of 'the family.' This paper considers this problem with reference to one group in north western Nepal.
