Contraceptive Use in Matlab, Bangladesh: The Role of Gender Preference

Research in several Asian societies has suggested that sons are generally preferred over daughters. The implications of gender preferences for actual fertility behavior have not been adequately investigated, however. This analysis examines the effect of the sex composition of surviving children on t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Studies in family planning 1992-07, Vol.23 (4), p.229-242
Main Authors: Rahman, Mizanur, Akbar, Jalaluddin, Phillips, James F., Becker, Stan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bangladesh
Birth Control
Births
Child Sex Preferences
Children
Choice Behavior
Contraception
Contraception - utilization
Contraceptives
Daughters
Demography
Factors
Family planning
Female
Fertility
Gender
Humans
Male
Matlab
Mortality
Parents
Patient Acceptance of Health Care
Population
Proportional Hazards Models
Rural Population
Sex of children, Parental preferences for
Sex Preselection
Sex Ratio
Sexes
Social aspects
Social research
Sons
Surveys and Questionnaires
Use
Women
Women - psychology
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Summary:Research in several Asian societies has suggested that sons are generally preferred over daughters. The implications of gender preferences for actual fertility behavior have not been adequately investigated, however. This analysis examines the effect of the sex composition of surviving children on the acceptance and discontinuation of contraception in a sample of 3,145 women in Matlab, Bangladesh, who were observed for 60 months. Hazards regression analyses are employed in the analysis. Strong and highly significant effects of gender preference on contraceptive use are observed. The preference is not monotonically son-biased but is moderated toward a balanced composition, because parents desire to have several sons and at least one daughter. These findings suggest that gender preferences, particularly a preference for sons, represent a significant barrier to fertility regulation in rural Bangladesh.
ISSN:0039-3665
1728-4465
DOI:10.2307/1966885