Fertility decline and gender bias in northern India

Abstract

Although it is widely acknowledged that the preference for sons is a barrier to a decline in fertility, considerable disagreement exists as to what actually happens to this preference when fertility declines in a region of low female autonomy. By analyzing the data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), we present evidence from northern India to show that the preference for sons is reduced when the ideal family size becomes small, even though it does not completely disappear. This finding appears to contradict trends in the juvenile sex ratio and the incidence of female feticide that suggest the intensification of gender bias. We argue that the anomaly is the result of a diffusion of prenatal sex-diagnostic techniques in regions where there is a large unmet demand for such methods. Using the NFHS data, we estimate that in northern India, girls currently constitute about 60% of the unwanted births and that the elimination of unwanted fertility has the potential to raise the sex ratio at birth to 130 boys per 100 girls.

The relationship between women's paid employment and women's stated son preference in India

“…Patrilocality is not as strong in southern India, where in some areas matrilineal kinship patterns persisted through the 18 th and 19 th centuries (Das Gupta et al 2003;Dyson and Moore 1983;Mukund 1999). As a result, women in southern India have historically had more frequent contact with their natal families following marriage and more secure property rights from natal families (Bhat, Mari, and Zavier 2003;Dyson and Moore 1983;Mukund 1999). On the other hand, in northern and northwestern India women's inheritance of land has historically been restricted and women are often entirely dependent on their husband's family for economic stability (Das Gupta et al 2003).…”

“…However, there is debate in the literature about whether stated preferences correspond with actual behavior (Bongaarts 1994;Pritchett 1994). Past research indicates that stated son preferences from NFHS-1 match state-level sex ratios from the 1990 Indian census (Bhat, Mari, and Zavier 2003). However, stated son preferences have started to fall in recent history (Retherford and Roy 2003), while sex ratios remain skewed towards males (Jha et al 2011).…”

Supply-and-demand demographics: dowry, daughter aversion and marriage markets in contemporary north India

“…P. N. Mari Bhat & A. J. Francis Zavier (2003) rephrase intensification as a 'son preference' effect that can more effectively be put into practice because of newly available technology. Similarly, S. Sudha & S. Iduraya Rajan (1999 consider that girls face 'double jeopardy' from neglect compounded by sex-selective abortion and Agnihotri (2001bAgnihotri ( , 2003 considers that sex-selective abortion can co-exist with the continuation of discrimination against those girls who are born.…”

“…Probably because of improvements in Scheduled Castes' economic position, masculine CSRs among them are intensifying, so narrowing the gap between them and the general population (Bhat 2002a(Bhat , 2002bBhat & Zavier 2003;Siddhanta et al 2009). …”

Missing Women And India's Religious Demography

“…There is evidence of son-preference among Muslim families in India; however, son-preference may not be as unequivocal as it is with Hindus. For instance, early in the 20th century, Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanavi wrote a compendium of useful knowledge for women in which he condemned expressions that bless a Muslim woman by wishing her husband, brother, or children long life, or wishing for her many sons and grandsons 10 [Minault 1998, p. 62]. More recently, some sociological evidence has gestured towards lower son preference among Muslim populations compared to Hindus in India.…”