Diverging stories of son preference in South Asia: a comparison of India and Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, overall sex ratio has declined from 109.6 (males/females) in the 1950s to 100.3 in 2011. Unlike countries with female deficits, the improvement in sex ratio has extended to the under‐5 age group. This has happened in a context where per‐capita income has grown modestly but poverty...
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BRAC University
2013
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| Online Zugang: | http://hdl.handle.net/10361/2610 |
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10361-26102019-09-29T05:27:00Z Diverging stories of son preference in South Asia: a comparison of India and Bangladesh Huq, Lopita Kabeer, Naila Mahmud, Simeen BRAC Development Institute (BDI), BRAC University Bangladesh Missing women Female deficit Child sex ratios Fertility Son preference Sex preference Investment in daughters Sex selective abortion Gender discrimination Patriarchy NGOs In Bangladesh, overall sex ratio has declined from 109.6 (males/females) in the 1950s to 100.3 in 2011. Unlike countries with female deficits, the improvement in sex ratio has extended to the under‐5 age group. This has happened in a context where per‐capita income has grown modestly but poverty continues to be widespread. Thus the story of “missing women” is evolving differently in Bangladesh than from India where decline in overall sex ratios has been accompanied by worsening of child sex ratios. In this paper we explore the hypothesis that improvement in child sex ratios in Bangladesh is due to a shift in parental preferences about sex composition of families in a society undergoing rapid socio‐economic change. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative data, we find that parents are less likely to discriminate between sons and daughters than in the past with respect to survival and investments in human capital. These changes indicate a weakening of patriarchal structures and cultural norms around fertility intentions and sex composition of families. In comparison to India, it is speculated that the diverging story of sex preference in Bangladesh could be related to the timing of introduction of sex selection technology and the role of the state and civil society in the two contexts. Lopita Huq Naila Kabeer Simeen Mahmud 2013-06-12T06:58:40Z 2013-06-12T06:58:40Z 2012 2012-11 Working paper 2223 - 0114 http://hdl.handle.net/10361/2610 en Working Paper No. 07 65 pages application/pdf BRAC University |
| institution |
Brac University |
| collection |
Institutional Repository |
| language |
English |
| topic |
Bangladesh Missing women Female deficit Child sex ratios Fertility Son preference Sex preference Investment in daughters Sex selective abortion Gender discrimination Patriarchy NGOs |
| spellingShingle |
Bangladesh Missing women Female deficit Child sex ratios Fertility Son preference Sex preference Investment in daughters Sex selective abortion Gender discrimination Patriarchy NGOs Huq, Lopita Kabeer, Naila Mahmud, Simeen Diverging stories of son preference in South Asia: a comparison of India and Bangladesh |
| description |
In Bangladesh, overall sex ratio has declined from 109.6 (males/females) in the
1950s to 100.3 in 2011. Unlike countries with female deficits, the improvement in
sex ratio has extended to the under‐5 age group. This has happened in a context
where per‐capita income has grown modestly but poverty continues to be
widespread. Thus the story of “missing women” is evolving differently in
Bangladesh than from India where decline in overall sex ratios has been
accompanied by worsening of child sex ratios. In this paper we explore the
hypothesis that improvement in child sex ratios in Bangladesh is due to a shift in
parental preferences about sex composition of families in a society undergoing
rapid socio‐economic change. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative
data, we find that parents are less likely to discriminate between sons and
daughters than in the past with respect to survival and investments in human
capital. These changes indicate a weakening of patriarchal structures and cultural
norms around fertility intentions and sex composition of families. In comparison
to India, it is speculated that the diverging story of sex preference in Bangladesh
could be related to the timing of introduction of sex selection technology and the
role of the state and civil society in the two contexts. |
| author2 |
BRAC Development Institute (BDI), BRAC University |
| author_facet |
BRAC Development Institute (BDI), BRAC University Huq, Lopita Kabeer, Naila Mahmud, Simeen |
| format |
Working paper |
| author |
Huq, Lopita Kabeer, Naila Mahmud, Simeen |
| author_sort |
Huq, Lopita |
| title |
Diverging stories of son preference in South Asia: a comparison of India and Bangladesh |
| title_short |
Diverging stories of son preference in South Asia: a comparison of India and Bangladesh |
| title_full |
Diverging stories of son preference in South Asia: a comparison of India and Bangladesh |
| title_fullStr |
Diverging stories of son preference in South Asia: a comparison of India and Bangladesh |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Diverging stories of son preference in South Asia: a comparison of India and Bangladesh |
| title_sort |
diverging stories of son preference in south asia: a comparison of india and bangladesh |
| publisher |
BRAC University |
| publishDate |
2013 |
| url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10361/2610 |
| work_keys_str_mv |
AT huqlopita divergingstoriesofsonpreferenceinsouthasiaacomparisonofindiaandbangladesh AT kabeernaila divergingstoriesofsonpreferenceinsouthasiaacomparisonofindiaandbangladesh AT mahmudsimeen divergingstoriesofsonpreferenceinsouthasiaacomparisonofindiaandbangladesh |
| _version_ |
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