Milazzo, Annamaria2014-03-182014-03-182014-03https://hdl.handle.net/10986/17295This paper is the first to show that excess mortality among adult women can be partly explained by strong preference for male children, the same cultural norm widely known to cause excess mortality before birth or at young ages. Using pooled individual-level data for India, the paper compares the age structure and anemia status of women by the sex of their first-born and uncovers several new findings. First, the share of living women with a first-born girl is a decreasing function of the women's age at the time of the survey. Second, while there are no systematic differences at the time of birth, women with a first-born girl are significantly more likely to develop anemia when young (under the age of 30) and these differences disappear for older women. Moreover, among those in the older age group, they appear to be significantly better off in terms of various predetermined characteristics. These findings are consistent with a selection effect in which maternal and adult mortality is higher for women with first-born girls, especially the poor and uneducated with limited access to health care and prenatal sex diagnostic technologies. To ensure the desired sex composition of children, these women resort to a fertility behavior medically known to increase their risk of death. The observed sex ratios for first births imply that 2.2-8.4 percent of women with first-born girls are 'missing' because of son preference between the ages of 30 and 49.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO HEALTHACCESS TO HEALTH CAREACCESS TO HEALTH SERVICESACCESS TO TREATMENTACCIDENTSADOLESCENCEADULT MORTALITYADULT WOMENADULTHOODADVERSE HEALTHAGE DISTRIBUTIONAMNIOCENTESISANTENATAL CAREBIOLOGICAL DIFFERENCESBIRTH ORDERBIRTH SPACINGBREASTFEEDINGCARDIOVASCULAR DISEASECARE SERVICESCHILD HEALTHCHILD MORTALITYCHILDBEARINGCHILDBIRTHCHILDHOODCHRONIC CONDITIONSCHRONIC MALNUTRITIONCLOSELY SPACED PREGNANCIESCOGNITIVE PERFORMANCECOMPLICATIONSCONDOMSCONTRACEPTIONCONTRACEPTIVESDEPRESSIONDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPMENT POLICYDIETDISABILITIESDISABILITYDISCRIMINATIONDISEASESDOMESTIC VIOLENCEEARLY DETECTIONEDUCATED WOMENEITHER SEXEMOTIONAL VIOLENCEEXCESS MORTALITYFAMILIESFAMILY HEALTHFAMILY PLANNINGFAMILY SIZEFEMALEFEMALE CHILDRENFEMALE MORTALITYFEMALE POPULATIONFEMALE STERILIZATIONFEMALESFERTILITYFERTILITY BEHAVIORFERTILITY RATEFERTILITY RATESFIRST BIRTHFIRST BIRTHSFIRST CHILDFIRST MARRIAGEFIRST PREGNANCYFORMS OF VIOLENCEGENDERGENDER BIASGENDER DIFFERENTIALGENDER DISPARITIESGENDER PREFERENCESGYNECOLOGYHEALTH CARE SYSTEMHEALTH CONSEQUENCESHEALTH FACILITIESHEALTH RISKSHEALTH STATUSHIVHIV/AIDSHUMAN DEVELOPMENTHUMAN RESOURCESHUSBANDHUSBANDSIDEAL FAMILY SIZEILLEGAL ABORTIONILLEGAL ABORTIONSILLNESSINFANTINFECTIONSINFERTILITYINFORMATION ON WOMENINJURIESINJURYIRON STORESJOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGYKNOWLEDGE OF CONTRACEPTIONLEVELS OF FERTILITYLIFETIME RISKLIFETIME RISK OF DEATHLIVE BIRTHSMALARIAMARRIED WOMENMATERNAL CAREMATERNAL DEATHMATERNAL DEATHSMATERNAL HEALTHMATERNAL HEALTH CAREMATERNAL HEALTH OUTCOMESMATERNAL MORBIDITYMATERNAL MORTALITYMATERNAL MORTALITY RATIOMATERNAL MORTALITY RATIOSMATERNAL NUTRITIONMEATMEDICAL BULLETINMETHOD OF CONTRACEPTIONMETHODS OF CONTRACEPTIONMILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALMISCARRIAGEMORTALITY RATESMOTHERMOTHERSNATIONAL FAMILY HEALTH SURVEYNATIONAL POPULATIONNATIONAL POPULATION POLICYNEWBORNNUMBER OF BIRTHSNUMBER OF CHILDRENNUMBER OF DEATHSNUMBER OF WOMENNUTRITIONAL NEEDSNUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTSNUTRITIONAL STATUSNUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTSNUTRITIOUS FOODOBSTETRIC FISTULAOBSTETRICSOLDER AGE GROUPSOLDER CHILDRENOLDER WOMENOVERWEIGHTPELVIC INFLAMMATORY DISEASEPHYSICAL VIOLENCEPOLICY DISCUSSIONSPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPOOR HEALTHPOOR NUTRITIONPOPULATION AND DEVELOPMENTPOPULATION STUDIESPRACTITIONERSPREGNANCYPREGNANT WOMENPRENATAL CAREPRENATAL DIAGNOSTICPRENATAL DIAGNOSTICSPROGRESSPSYCHOSESPUBLIC HEALTHPUBLIC SERVICESRADIOREDUCING MATERNAL MORTALITYREPRODUCTIVE HEALTHREPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CAREREPRODUCTIVE RIGHTSREPRODUCTIVE YEARSRHYTHM METHODRISK OF DEATHRURAL AREASSAFE MOTHERHOODSECOND BIRTHSEVERE VIOLENCESEXSEX OF THE CHILDSEX OF THE FETUSSEX PREFERENCESEX RATIOSEX RATIOSSEX SELECTIONSEX-SELECTIVE ABORTIONSEX-SELECTIVE ABORTIONSSEXUAL VIOLENCESOCIOECONOMIC STATUSSON PREFERENCESPACING BETWEEN BIRTHSSPOUSAL VIOLENCESPOUSESTATUS OF WOMENSTERILIZATIONSUICIDETELEVISIONTERMINATION OF PREGNANCYUNEDUCATED WOMENUNICEFUNITED NATIONSUNITED NATIONS POPULATION DIVISIONUNIVERSAL ACCESSUNSAFE ABORTIONUNSAFE ABORTIONSURBAN AREASVICTIMSWILLWIVESWOMANWOMEN WITH EDUCATIONWOMEN'S HEALTHWORLD POPULATIONYOUNG AGESYOUNG GIRLSYOUNGER WOMEN10.1596/1813-9450-6802