Son preference and education Inequalities in India: the role of gender-biased fertility strategies and preferential treatment of boys

Abstract

We investigate the impact of son preference in India on gender inequalities in education. We distinguish the impact of preferential treatment of boys from the impact of gender-biased fertility strategies (gender-specific fertility stopping rules and sex-selective abortions). Results show strong impacts of gender-biased fertility strategies on education inequalities between girls and boys. Preferential treatment of boys also matters but appears to have a more limited impact for most outcomes. Further, our results suggest that gender-biased fertility strategies create gender inequalities in education both because girls and boys end up in systematically different families and because of gender inequalities in pecuniary investment within families. Since gender inequalities in education in India are partially the result of gender-biased fertility strategies, they are not likely to disappear until the strong desire to have a son does so.