Chapter 2 cover photo credits: Mark Henley / Panos Picture

33

Stemming girls’ chronic poverty: Catalysing development change by building just social institutions

constant, improves 

survival rates for girls, 

whereas increasing 

male income, holding 

female income constant, 

worsens survival rates 

for girls. Increasing 

female income increases 

educational  attainment 

of all children, whereas 

increasing male income 

decreases educational 

attainment for girls and 

has  no  effect  on  boys’ 

educational  attainment. 

However, this can 

change with birth order: Wang (2005) noted that the deficit in 

the number of girls born as second children was more than 

twice as high among educated as among illiterate mothers, 

and may indicate easier access to, and greater affordability of, 

prenatal ultrasound in educated individuals.

Social factors 

As highlighted by the perpetuation of son bias practices in 

some immigrant communities in high-income Organisation 

for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 

countries (e.g. Almond et al., 2009),

8

 intra-household gender 

discrimination  is  also  strongly  influenced  by  socio-cultural 

factors, especially in Asia and the Middle East and North 

Africa. Social prestige and the fear of social stigma are key 

reasons (see Box 10). Jin et al. (2007) noted that, in China, 

because the power structure of the community favours men, 

having a son in the family provides a sense of security and 

higher social status, whereas families without a son may be 

subject to community ridicule. Similarly, Gupta and Dubey 

(2006) noted that, in India, even though female offspring may 

be  just  as  capable  of  offering  support,  there  may  be  stigma 

associated with receiving such support from daughters. 

Sons also confer a sense of living up to culturally sanctioned 

gender expectations. A survey in Vietnam, for instance, found 

that, for some male respondents, having a son was associated 

with masculinity (being a ‘real man’) and with being blessed 

(UNFPA and ISDS, 2007). Among women, even though there 

is  recognition  that  daughters  may  provide  greater  affection 

and emotional support, the ‘ability’ to produce a son is a 

critical determinant of her status within the family (Diamond-

Smith et al., 2008). Indeed, in many societies men and women 

who lack a male heir are often looked down on as ‘failed 

reproducers’ (Bélanger, 2010). Osaranen (2008) notes that, in 

Africa, sons are preferred in order to perpetuate the family 

name, with communities carrying out prayers for fecundity to 

wish young couples sons or ‘sons and daughters, with sons 

taking precedence over daughters,’ as a girl loses her identity 

with marriage. In Latin America, there appears to be less 

evidence of son preference, as reflected in demographic ratios. 

Some research suggests that mothers have a slight preference 

for daughters (Filmer et al., 2008); other studies suggest mixed 

preferences between countries and children, depending on 

order and siblings (Cruces and Galiani, 2007). However, 

there has been little research on social factors behind the sex 

preferences for children in Latin America. In China, research 

indicates that the most serious perceived gender inequality 

for many women is that they anticipate they will be deeply 

discriminated against if they fail to have a son (Argnani et al., 

2004; Dubuc and Coleman, 2007; IRIN, 2005).

Son bias is also reinforced by religious and cultural 

traditions in a number of societies (see Box 11). Such beliefs 

can be deeply entrenched, as highlighted by anthropological 

evidence from Vietnam where the Doi Moi market-oriented 

reforms in the 1980s brought about a return of pre-socialist 

funeral and cult rituals that demand a male heir, thereby 

reinforcing the desire for sons (UNFPA and ISDS, 2007). 

Box 9: Links between son bias and changing economic systems

 

Although son bias is often referred to as an ancient practice, it is also a dynamic one, often influenced by changing economic 

structures. Incidence of infanticide declined in Maoist China, except during for the famine period of 1959 to 1961, but is thought 

to have intensified under the economic reform policies of the 1980s. Decollectivisation restored the family as the locus of social 

and economic security for rural Chinese. It increased the value of male labour by designating the rural household as the basic unit 

of agricultural production, and this was also reflected in smaller land allocations to families with daughters during the 1980s land 

reforms.

7

 At the same time, declining social support and services in rural areas have strengthened the need for sons to provide such 

support. 

In India, some analysts argue that the lower prevalence of son bias in the rice-growing areas in the east and south compared with the 

predominantly wheat-growing areas of the west and north is related to the relative value of women’s agricultural labour in these two 

cultivation systems: high in the former and low in the latter. Accordingly, as a result of the green revolution of the 1970s, which reduced 

dependence on female agricultural labour, women’s economic value declined, arguably strengthening son bias proclivities.

Source: Chen and Summerfield (2007); Diamond-Smith et al. (2008); Li (2007); Pande and Astone (2007); Srinivasan (2005)

Among women, 

even though there 

is recognition that 

daughters may 

provide greater 

affection and 

emotional support, 

the ‘ability’ to 

produce a son is a 

critical determinant 

of her status within 

the family.

 

- Diamond-Smith et al. (2008)

---