Source: The Economist, March 4, 2010
In many cultures, there is a strong preference for boy children. In China, there are sanctions against having more than one child. Technology allows sex selection in some countries and in others girl babies are simply killed. In some countries favoring of boys results in higher child mortality for girls. The result is that some countries, mostly in Asia, are seeing many more young males than females.
The unusual thing about son preference is that it rises sharply at second and later births (see chart 2). Among Indian women with two children (of either sex), 60% said they wanted a son next time, almost twice the preference for first-borns. This reflected the desire of those with two daughters for a son. The share rose to 75% for those with three children. The difference in parental attitudes between first-borns and subsequent children is large and significant.The reality of violent prejudice against girls is itself horrible. The long term effects on societies in which there are many unmarried young men are hard to foresee, and may also be bad!
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