Parental Preferences for Sex of Children in Canada

Abstract

This study examines parental preferences for sexof children in Canada using data from the 1984 CanadianFertility Survey. A high percentage of surveyparticipants (37%) report British as their ethnicorigin, 24% report French, and 39% belong to all othercategories combined. Forty per cent of participantsreport an income of less than $25,000, 41% an incomebetween $25,000 and $50,000, and 19% an income greater than $50,000. Attitudinal and birth timingmeasures are used to assess sex preferences at differentparities. Both measures indicate that the primarypreference is for at least one child of each sex. The birth timing measure indicates that neitherboys nor girls are preferred as first-born children bywomen and their husbands/partners. The attitudinalmeasure shows that sons are preferred as first-born children among women with a sex preference.However, the greater percentage of zero-parity womenhave no sex preference for their first-born child.Furthermore, the greater percentage of women at every parity express no sex preference.