Is Raising Kids a Fool’s Game?:
In her 1994 book Pricing the Priceless Child (Princeton University Press), Princeton University sociology professor Viviana Zelizer describes how in the 19th century, children were “economic assets” that contributed to farm work and other important tasks. Then, during the early 20th century, the U.S. established laws removing many children from hard labor, sparking the “rise of the economically useless and emotionally priceless child,” Zelizer says.