Female Labour Force Participation and the Reduction in Son Preference in China

The preference for sons transcends many cultures, making it an issue with local and global dimensions. This article explores if and how married women’s preferences in relation to their children are influenced by a shift in their economic status. Our results show that female employment had a significant effect on son preference. Specifically, women’s participation in the labour market reduces son preference by 15.7 per cent, and a 10 per cent increase in wages leads to a further 0.05 per cent reduction in the preference for having sons rather than daughters. The results also support the view that economic factors are sufficient to change deeply entrenched norms regarding gender preferences. We attribute the positive effect of labour participation on female bargaining power to shifts in the allocation of intrahousehold resources. The article conducts a cross-regional test to illustrate that the developmental gap between rural and urban communities partly explains China’s increasing sex imbalance. It thereby shows why the phenomenon of ‘missing women’ has played out so differently worldwide.