Old Habits Die Hard? Lingering Son Preference in an Era of Normalizing Sex Ratios at Birth in South Korea

Abstract

South Korea was among the first countries to report both an abnormally high sex ratio at birth (SRB) and its subsequent normalization. We examine the role of son preference in driving fertility intentions during a period of declining SRB and consider the contribution of individual characteristics and broader social context to explaining changes in intentions. We employ data from the National Survey on Fertility, Family Health and Welfare that span 1991–2012. We find that reported son preference declined to a great extent but remained substantial by the end of the observation period, and that the intention to have a third child still differed by sex of existing children. Change in individual-level factors does not explain the decline in son preference, suggesting that broad social changes were also important. This study provides a better understanding of how son preference evolves in the post-transitional context of very low fertility.

A cross-sectional study of traditional practices affecting maternal and newborn health in rural Nigeria

“…It is therefore important to continue to engage with such rural communities about how to amend these risky traditions meaningfully towards making pregnancy and childbirth safer. The tradition of son preference and its implications has been described in many cultures and countries [25, 26]. The findings of our study corroborate the narrative that son preference continues to be an issue in many country settings [27, 28].…”

‘Not a bowl of rice, but tender loving care’: from aborting girls to preferring daughters in South Korea

“…The decline of son preference in South Korea has been found to be associated with the rapid rise in education, urbanisation, and broader social changes wrought by the country's blistering pace of urbanisation and development from the 1960s (Chun & Das Gupta, 2009;Chung & Das Gupta, 2007;Yoo et al, 2017).…”

Baby Bonus, Fertility, and Missing Women

“…9 Focusing on South Korea, Choi and Hwang (2020) show that son preference has been diminishing in recent years. 10 The findings in Yoo et al (2016) also suggest declines in son preference, but report that a decision to have a third child depends largely on the sex composition of first and second children. Based on a survey, Jayachandran (2017) estimate a causal relationship between desired family size and son preference in India.…”