How do tiered categories function in searches?

Hi. If I have a tiered set of categories, and the user does a search for a parent category, will the search results include listings in the child categories as well?

Example:
Let’s say my categories look like this…

• Parent 1

• – Child 1
• – Child 2
• – Child 3

If I do a search for “Parent 1”, will all listings for Child 1, Child 2, and Child 3 also be returned?

I am concerned that if I set a 1 category limit for a pricing package, that a listing owner can circumvent the limit by selecting a parent category to get included in searches for any of the child categories as well. In that case it might be better to create a flat set of categories.