Volume : X, Issue : II, February - 2020

Is there Son Preference in India? – An Analysis based on Sex Ratio at Birth and Order of Birth

Dr Zabeena Hameed. P

Abstract :

Based on NFHS data, the paper observes that females are significantly under–represented among the births in India. NFHS reports provide strong evidence of decline in sex ratios of the population aged 0–6 and in the Sex Ratio at Birth for births in the five years preceding the survey. Against the normal expectation that the sex of the first child is less likely to be controlled, NFHS provides strong evidence that, the Sex Ratio at Birth for first–born children has been below normal in all its surveys and has been declining steadily, except for NFHS–4, where it registered a marginal improvement. Also, the Sex Ratio at Birth for births at order two is substantially lower than at order one and at any other birth order, revealing strong son preference. The Sex Ratio at Birth for births at order three is also lower than the Sex Ratio at Birth for all births except births of order two, suggesting that substantial proportions of couples with two or three children stop having more children only if their last birth is a boy. Modern science and technology have been widely misused to determine the sex of unborn children and this has ended up in terminating unwanted and burdensome pregnancies. Myopia of individuals and authorities culminated in ‘gendercide’. Prosperity effect, eadwinner desire, old age security and religious rights and powers, and a host of other factors ended up in the masculinization of India’s population

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Article: Download PDF    DOI : 10.36106/ijar/1418829  

Cite This Article:

IS THERE SON PREFERENCE IN INDIA?‾AN ANALYSIS BASED ON SEX RATIO AT BIRTH AND ORDER OF BIRTH, Dr Zabeena Hameed. P INDIAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH : Volume-10 | Issue-2 | February-2020

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