Three prominent themes in fertility research – the old-age security hypothesis, the social-mobility hypothesis, and wealth-flows theory are based on the notion that parents in Third-World settings often maintain a high level of childbearing in order to improve their own social and economic well-being. Using data from 1,019 farm households in Rwanda, we provide an empirical test of this ‘anthropological assumption’ as it pertains to the contributions that departed children make to their parental households. Analysis confirms that children are, in fact, of considerable economic value for their parents, but also shows that such intergenerational support is conditioned by other variables, such as the number of children still living within the household, the distance between households, and individual characteristics of parents and their children.