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Does Investment in the Sexes Differ When Fathers Are Absent?

Sex-biased Infant Survival and Child Growth in Rural Ethiopia

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Abstract

This study examines child survival and growth in a patrilineal Ethiopian community as a function of father absence and sex. In line with evolutionary predictions for sex-biased parental investment, the absence of a father and associated constraints on household resources is more detrimental for sons’ than daughters’ survival in infancy. Father absence doubles a son’s risk of dying in infancy but has a positive influence on the well-being of female members of the household, improving daughter survival, growth, and maternal nutritional status. Lack of paternal investment may be compensated for by other matrilateral kin through increased reciprocity between mother, daughter, and sister.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge with grateful thanks the generous participation of the people of Hitosa and Dodota districts, Arsi zone, Ethiopia; as well as Dr. Eshetu Gurmu and the Institute of Population Studies, Addis Ababa University, and the Regional Government of Oromiya for permission and assistance to undertake this research. The dedicated work of many field assistants, including Burka Tessema and Mekdes Alemu, has contributed greatly to this study. Additional thanks are owed to Rebecca Sear and David Lawson for their valuable comments on this manuscript and to Ruth Mace for her encouragement. Data analyzed in this paper were collected with financial support from The Wellcome Trust (Project Grant GR068461MA) and the Economic and Social Research Council.

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Correspondence to Mhairi A. Gibson.

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Gibson, M.A. Does Investment in the Sexes Differ When Fathers Are Absent?. Hum Nat 19, 263–276 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-008-9044-2

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