jQuery get value within child div

Answer 1

next() and nextAll() traverse the siblings of the element, not the children. Instead, use "find()"

var text_val = $('#first').find('#second_child').html();

You use val() when dealing with elements like inputs and textareas. html() will return whatever is under the div (which works in your example). text() will return the text in the element (wich would also work in your example).

Your example also makes me suspicious of your design. If you have multiple ids set to "#second_child", your html is confused. Instead, use a class. However, if there's only one id "#second_child", then all you need is:

var text_val = $('#second_child').text();