Husband, sons and fertility gap: Evidence from India

Ankita Mishra and Jaai Parasnis

No 17-18, Monash Economics Working Papers from Monash University, Department of Economics

Abstract: Fertility gap—the difference between a woman’s ideal number of children and her actual number of children—is prevalent in both directions. We investigate the distribution of fertility gap in India and factors that lead to women exceeding or underachieving their ideal number of children. We find that son preference has a significant effect, contributing to negative as well as positive fertility gap. Further, we find that a husband’s preferences, in terms of his ideal family size and preference for a son, significantly shape the fertility gap. Our results point to the need for accounting for gender norms and household perspective in fertility analysis and policy settings.

Keywords: fertility; India; fertility gap; son preference; household bargaining (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D10 J13 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 37 pages
Date: 2019-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Journal Article: Husband, sons and the fertility gap: evidence from India (2021)
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