Pricing the Brown Child: Racism and the Changing Social Value of Children

Zelizer's book Pricing the Priceless Child (1985) provided a new and important account of changing perceptions of children. Between 1880-1940, people went from seeing children as economically productive to economically useless but “emotionally priceless” (Zelizer 1985). For example, in 1880, many adults relied on children’s labor to sustain the family. By 1940, many adults forbade children from working because they were too young and innocent. In 1880, many adults accepted high child mortality as a fact of life. By 1940, adults were purchasing life insurance policies on their children to prepare for the emotionally devastating possibility of child death.

However, this standard account of a shifting cultural understanding of children is based on white children and communities, and neglects what was happening for children of color. In this project, I will investigate the cultural shift in valuing Black and Mexican children, looking at child labor and child life insurance.