Having Sons, Having Daughters: Are There Health Implications for Women in Rural China?

• In Event: 546 - Section on Sociology of Population Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Section on Sociology of Population Roundtables (one-hour). Table 01. Gender, Families and Development

Abstract

Son preference in China is well-documented. In 2010, the sex ratio in China was 1.18, indicating 118 boys were born for every 100 girls. Despite government policies restricting ultrasounds after 14 weeks’ gestation, programs assuring pensions to parents without a son, and educational campaigns encouraging families to value daughters, the sex ratio in 2010 was higher than in 2000, and was one of the highest in the world. While the welfare of girls in China has garnered considerable attention from scholars, the implications for women have been far less investigated. In this paper we investigate whether women who give birth to only daughters are disadvantaged in health relative to women who give birth to at least one son.

Authors

• Susan E. Short, Brown University

• Jennifer Bouek, Brown University

• Zhen Liu, Brown University