The Effect of Gender Preference on Contraceptive Use and Fertility in Rural Egypt

Abstract

Data are used from two surveys of currently married women aged 15-44 conducted in 1979-80 and 1990-91 to explore the changing impact of gender preference on modern contraceptive use and on fertility in rural Menoufia, Egypt. The significantly positive effects on contraceptive use of having one or more sons in 1979 remained constant in 1990. Families without living sons had higher odds of having a birth than did families with two or more sons during 1979-80, and these relative odds were even higher in 1990-91 among families with three or more living children. The implications of these findings for subsequent declines in aggregate fertility are discussed.

Are users of modern and traditional contraceptive methods in Jordan different?

“…This is consistent with Jordanian culture, a male-dominated culture, in which the wife relinquishes reproductive decisions to her husband (26,27). A husband's decision on choice of contraceptive method may be influenced by the number and sex of children; a Palestinian study found that husbands' desire was to have 2 sons, while in Jordan and Egypt the desire was for 3 sons (26,28,29). On the other hand, we found that husbands' desire for more children did not hold as a predictor for selecting contraceptive method after controlling for other factors.…”

Gender Preferences in Africa: A Comparative Analysis of Fertility Choices

“…As already shown in earlier studies (Yount et al, 2000), contraceptive use depends on the gender composition of earlier births.…”

“…But other studies on India (Das Gupta, 1987 ;A. Basu, 1999 ;Rajan, Sudha, & Mohanachandran, 2000 ;Jayachandran, 2014), South Korea (Edlund & Lee, 2013), Egypt (Yount, Langsten, & Hill, 2000) or Sub-Saharan Africa (Klasen, 1996) have questioned this result. 11.…”

Womens education and diffusion of the fertility transition: The case of Egypt 1960–1996 in 4905 administrative subdivisions

“…This distortion declined over time so that the sex ratio at birth for most Muhafazas came within the confidence interval of the expected biological value in 1996. Son preference has been documented by Williamson (1976), Arnold (1992), United Nations (1998) and for rural Egypt by Yount, Langsten and Hill (2000). As births are not published at the subdivision level, we cannot estimate female birth underregistration at that level.…”