The Value of Daughters and sons: A comparative Study of the Gender Preferences of Parents

Data from the Value of Children Study are analyzed to examine preferences for sons in seven Asian Countries and the United States. Boy preference was found to be weak in the Philippines and Indonesia (countries which share a common Malayo-Polynesian background) and in the United States. In Korea and Taiwan (countries with Confucianist the preference for sons was both strong and pervasive. Intermediate levels of boy preference were observed in Turkey, Thailand, and Singapore. Even in countries in which sex preference is not prominent, sons and daughters are expected to play different roles and serve different functions for their parents. A model of the determinants of sex preference is developed and tested using multiple classification analysis. The results indicate that sex preferences for children are determined more by cultural traditions and random biological processed than by the general level of development of a country or individual differences in backgrounds or life styles.