PMID- 14686135
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20040406
LR  - 20181113
IS  - 0070-3370 (Print)
IS  - 0070-3370 (Linking)
VI  - 40
IP  - 4
DP  - 2003 Nov
TI  - Fertility decline and gender bias in northern India.
PG  - 637-57
AB  - Although it is widely acknowledged that the preference for sons is a barrier to a 
      decline in fertility, considerable disagreement exists as to what actually 
      happens to this preference when fertility declines in a region of low female 
      autonomy. By analyzing the data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), we 
      present evidence from northern India to show that the preference for sons is 
      reduced when the ideal family size becomes small, even though it does not 
      completely disappear. This finding appears to contradict trends in the juvenile 
      sex ratio and the incidence of female feticide that suggest the intensification 
      of gender bias. We argue that the anomaly is the result of a diffusion of 
      prenatal sex-diagnostic techniques in regions where there is a large unmet demand 
      for such methods. Using the NFHS data, we estimate that in northern India, girls 
      currently constitute about 60% of the unwanted births and that the elimination of 
      unwanted fertility has the potential to raise the sex ratio at birth to 130 boys 
      per 100 girls.
FAU - Bhat, P N Mari
AU  - Bhat PN
AD  - Population Research Centre, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi 110 007. 
      mari@ieg.ernet.in
FAU - Zavier, A J Francis
AU  - Zavier AJ
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - United States
TA  - Demography
JT  - Demography
JID - 0226703
SB  - IM
MH  - Birth Rate/*ethnology/*trends
MH  - Family Characteristics/ethnology
MH  - Female
MH  - *Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
MH  - Health Surveys
MH  - Humans
MH  - India/epidemiology
MH  - Male
MH  - Models, Theoretical
MH  - Personal Autonomy
MH  - *Prejudice
MH  - Sex Factors
EDAT- 2003/12/23 05:00
MHDA- 2004/04/07 05:00
CRDT- 2003/12/23 05:00
PHST- 2003/12/23 05:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2004/04/07 05:00 [medline]
PHST- 2003/12/23 05:00 [entrez]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Demography. 2003 Nov;40(4):637-57.