Abstract
Demographers are interested in sex preferences for children because they can skew sex ratios and influence population-level fertility, parenting behavior, and family outcomes. Based on parity progression ratios, in most European countries, there are no sex preferences for a first child, but a strong preference for mixed-sex children. We hypothesize that mixed-sex preferences also influence parental happiness. Parents’ disappointment with a second child of the same sex as the first could have negative effects for parents and children. We use longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel and the British Household Panel Study to examine parental happiness by the children’s sex and analyze whether these effects differ by parent’s sex, age, nativity, and educational attainment. The results are only partially consistent with predictions from parity progression ratios. As expected, parental happiness does not depend on the sex of the first child. We find weak evidence suggesting that two boys decrease happiness, but the findings are not consistent across German and British data or across subpopulations. Moreover, two girls do not reduce happiness. Although sex preferences influence fertility, they appear to have little impact on happiness, perhaps because of unobserved positive factors associated with having same-sex children.
Highlights
Demographers have long been concerned with parents’ sex preferences of their children
Demographers are interested in sex preferences for children because they can skew sex ratios and influence population-level fertility, parenting behavior, and family outcomes
Sex preferences are a public issue because son preference combined with sex-selection technologies has led to skewed sex ratios in many parts of Asia (Park and Cho 1995; Li et al 2000; Johansson and Nygren 1991) and recently similar skews were documented among immigrant populations in Canada (Almond et al 2013)
Summary
Demographers have long been concerned with parents’ sex preferences of their children. There has been much less research on this topic in European countries, sex preferences still exist (Andersson et al 2006; Brockmann 2001; Hank and Kohler 2000) and can be a very important factor affecting the level of fertility in low fertility settings (Wood and Bean 1977; Bongaarts 2001). Many studies have found a consistent preference for having at least one child of each sex in many European countries These sex preferences are documented from either parity progression ratios, that is, the proportion going on to have an additional child based on the sex composition of existing children, or intentions to have another child based on a given sex composition (Andersson et al 2006; Brockmann 2001; Hank and Kohler 2000)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
