Abstract
The chapter discusses son preference in India. The analysis is based on fertility preference as measured by the NFHS-5 and shows that Indian women are always more likely to desire another birth if they have had only girls, but there are significant variations across Indian regions. The spatial analysis conducted at the district level shows a clear north/south divide. Regions with entrenched son preference are mainly in Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh. In contrast, the northeastern states behave similarly to the southern states with lower levels of son preference.
Policy options to reduce son preference include encouraging women’s participation in the labor force and addressing social norms promoting son preference.
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Singh, A., Upadhyay, A.K. (2023). Spatial Patterns of Son Preference in India. In: Guilmoto, C.Z. (eds) Atlas of Gender and Health Inequalities in India. Demographic Transformation and Socio-Economic Development, vol 16. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-47847-5_8
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