Expectations of Support from Daughters in India: The Role of Education, Employment, and Empowerment

Abstract

Existing literature on son preference in India posits a strong perceived economic rationale for sons being more valuable to households than daughters. However, it is useful to examine whether women’s expectations about receiving support from their daughters are determined by their own life circumstances. In this paper, I use data from the India Human Development Survey – II, 2011-12 to examine the role of women’s education, employment, and empowerment as factors associated with whether women report that they expect in their old age to live with or receive financial support from a daughter compared to only from a son. Results from logistic regression show that women with higher education are more likely and employed women are less likely to expect co-residence with or receive financial support from a daughter. Women with higher bargaining power in terms of home ownership are more likely to expect co-residence with daughters, but not once state-fixed effects are taken into account.