Publication: Development, Modernization, and Son Preference in Fertility Decisions
Date
2008-09
ISSN
Published
2008-09
Author(s)
Abstract
A family preference for sons over
daughters may manifest itself in different ways, including
higher mortality, worse health status, or lower educational
attainment among girls. This study focuses on one measure of
son preference in the developing world, namely the
likelihood of continued childbearing given the gender
composition of existing children in the family. The authors
use an unusually large data set, covering 65 countries and
approximately 5 million births. The analysis shows that son
preference is apparent in many regions of the developing
world and is particularly large in South Asia and in the
Eastern Europe and Central Asia region. Modernization does
not appear to reduce son preference. For example, in South
Asia son preference is larger for women with more education
and is increasing over time. The explanation for these
patterns appears to be that latent son preference in
childbearing is more likely to manifest itself when
fertility levels are low. As a result of son preference,
girls tend to grow up with significantly more siblings than
boys do, which may have implications for their wellbeing if
there are quantity-quality trade-offs that result in fewer
material and emotional resources allocated to children in
larger families.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Filmer, Deon; Friedman, Jed; Schady, Norbert. 2008. Development, Modernization, and Son Preference in Fertility Decisions. Policy Research Working Paper; No. 4716. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/6995 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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