Mothers-in-Law and Son Preference in India

Robitaille, Marie-Claire; Chatterjee, Ishita

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2208354

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Interestingly, the worsening of the sex-ratio came at a time when stated son preference declined from 58 per cent in 1992 (NFHS-1) to 57 per cent in 1998 (NFHS-2) and 54 per cent in 2006 (NFHS-3). This decline in stated son preference over time is also observed, for given generations (Robitaille and Chatterjee, 2017). It is thus clear that the strongly biased sex-ratio observed in India would not have occurred if it was not for the new technologies allowing parents to engineer the sex-ratio among their children at low physical, financial and emotional costs[3].…”

Section: Son Preference In Indiasupporting

confidence: 56%

Do spouses influence each other's stated son preference?

Robitaille

Chatterjee

2020

IGDR

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Purpose This paper aims to understand the motivations behind married men preferring sons and to quantify the association between a couple’s stated son preferences. Son preference is an endemic problem in India. With half a million female foetuses aborted each year, the root causes of son preference in India have been widely studied. Little is known, however, on how couples mutually decide on their desired child sex-ratio. Design/methodology/approach Using data from the third National Family and Health Survey, the authors apply three-stage least square and optimal general method of moment methods to demonstrate association. Robustness checks are performed on plausibly exogenous instrumental variables and selection issues in the marriage market. Findings The authors show that their spouse's son preference is by far the most significant factor associated with a person's own stated son preference. The association between spouse's stated son preference is observed only for couples being married for three to five years. It is postulated that this is the critical period when sex-selective abortion decisions are being made. Originality/value The focus of existing empirical studies is nearly always on the mother's son preference only. The hypothesis is that spouses mutually influence each other’s preferences and models estimating determinants of son preference should include preferences of both spouses. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to understand the motivations of married men towards preferring sons and quantify the association between spouse's stated son preference and respondent's stated son preference.

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Section: Son Preference In Indiasupporting

confidence: 56%

Do spouses influence each other's stated son preference?

Robitaille

Chatterjee

2020

IGDR

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“…For example, son preference seems to be particularly strong in the Northwest and much weaker in the South, reflected in wide geographical differences in sex ratios (Jha et al 2011). Son preference may also differ within the household, and outcomes therefore depend on the bargaining power of different household members as suggested by Robitaille and Chatterjee 2017. Hence factors related to bargaining power of different household members, such as age of the mother and marital duration at first birth and pressures from the husband's family, could matter for fertility decisions following the birth of a son or a daughter and for the extent of preferential treatment of boys.…”

Section: Heterogeneitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even if first-born girl families have more reasons to use gender-biased fertility strategies, everyone will not need and want to. We also investigate heterogeneity with respect to characteristics likely to be associated with the strength of son preference: whether the state sex ratios are skewed or in the natural range, age of the mother at first birth and co-residence with the fathers' parents, where paternal grandparents will often have strong son preference (Robitaille and Chatterjee 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Son preference and education Inequalities in India: the role of gender-biased fertility strategies and preferential treatment of boys

Fors

Lindskog

2023

J Popul Econ

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We investigate the impact of son preference in India on gender inequalities in education. We distinguish the impact of preferential treatment of boys from the impact of gender-biased fertility strategies (gender-specific fertility stopping rules and sex-selective abortions). Results show strong impacts of gender-biased fertility strategies on education inequalities between girls and boys. Preferential treatment of boys also matters but appears to have a more limited impact for most outcomes. Further, our results suggest that gender-biased fertility strategies create gender inequalities in education both because girls and boys end up in systematically different families and because of gender inequalities in pecuniary investment within families. Since gender inequalities in education in India are partially the result of gender-biased fertility strategies, they are not likely to disappear until the strong desire to have a son does so.

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“…[3][4][5] Mothers-in-law (MILs), in particular, have been identified as the messengers of fertility pressures for young couples in India. [5][6][7][8][9][10] Further, research from India on reproductive coercion (i.e., the coercion of women's reproductive control by their husband and/or other household and family members) also demonstrates that inlaws, more than husbands, perpetrate this type of abusive fertility control. 11 Reproductive coercion is associated with intimate partner violence and predicts reproductive outcomes such as contraceptive use and unintended pregnancy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Qualitative Examination of the Role and Influence of Mothers-in-Law on Young Married Couples’ Family Planning in Rural Maharashtra, India

Dixit

Ghule

Rao

et al. 2022

Glob Health Sci Pract

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Mothers-in-law (MILs) had strong preferences for early births in marriage and preferred female sterilization over other modern forms of shortterm contraception such as pills and intrauterine devices.n MILs held traditional gender role attitudes and expected daughters-in-law to adhere to these. While they supported birth spacing and joint couple decision making, they also wanted to be included in family planning (FP) decision making.

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Mothers-in-Law and Son Preference in India

Abstract: In India, the mothers-in-law

Cited by 5 publications

References 27 publications

Do spouses influence each other's stated son preference?

Do spouses influence each other's stated son preference?

Son preference and education Inequalities in India: the role of gender-biased fertility strategies and preferential treatment of boys

Qualitative Examination of the Role and Influence of Mothers-in-Law on Young Married Couples’ Family Planning in Rural Maharashtra, India

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