Another Gendered Demographic Dividend: Adjusting to a Future without Sons

Abstract

Sonless families may pose a gendered demographic dividend. As fertility declines, families with only daughters are likely to grow. In turn, patriarchal family systems may weaken when many families are unable to engage in patriarchal practices. I examine some of these theorized dynamics in India. Sonless families did grow as fertility declined, reaching 10 percent in India as a whole in 2015 and approaching 20 percent in states with earlier fertility declines. I also identify a substantial influence of children's sex on mothers' expectations of old-age support. Using panel data from the India Human Development Survey, I compare women's expectations after they had children to earlier expectations when they did not yet have children. Women with sons kept or further embraced patriarchal expectations that a son would provide support. Sonless mothers largely gave up patriarchal expectations, turning to daughters or away from children altogether.

The Effect of Adult Children's Education Attainment on Their Parents' Cognitive Health: An Intergenerational Support Perspective

“…In contrast to previous studies, this study did not confirm that adult daughters provided more informal caregiving. The literature on family caregiving and intergenerational relationships consistently found that daughters are closer to their parents and more willing to provide informal caregiving than sons (68)(69)(70). However, this study discovered that educated daughters improved their parents' cognitive health not through informal caregiving, but through financial support and modeling of healthy behaviors.…”

Childlessness and sibling positioning in upward intergenerational support: Insights from Singapore

“…The findings imply a gradual erosion of patrilineal family systems in Singapore, with childless individuals at least partially contributing to this shift in intergenerational support dynamics. The trend may be further influenced by the increasing number of sonless families and changing sex ratios in family compositions across Asia (Allendorf, 2020). Consequently, the traditional patrilineal notion of son centrality in old-age care may no longer be relevant, potentially impacting parents' perceptions and reliance on their male children for old-age support.…”

A Girl and a Boy, Are a Bundle of Joy: A Rise in Gender‐Equitable Fertility Preferences in India

“…Although declining fertility has intensified son preference, smaller families are found to be less gender biased, suggesting that demographic shifts can reduce son preference (Allendorf 2020; Bhat and Zavier 2003; Basu and Desai 2016). Basu and Desai (2016) empirically demonstrate how a family's desire for social mobility is associated with gender‐equitable preferences among one‐child middle‐class families in India.…”

“…These families make heavier material and emotional investments in their children irrespective of the gender of the child. Using nationally representative large‐scale survey data from India, Allendorf (2020) finds that the gender composition of children influences parental expectations of old‐age support. While women with sons expect them to provide support in old age, women with only daughters either expect old‐age support from daughters or not from children at all.…”