Abstract
Abstract The preference of parents for sons has been observed to be unusually strong in the South Asian region, as well as in East Asia, the Middle East and North Africa (Arnold 1997; United Nations 1985). Virtually every study in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka (at both the national and local levels) has found son preference to be both pervasive and largely resistant to change. Sons are valued above daughters for their economic value in providing help on the family farm or in the family business, in providing security for their parents in old age, and in carry ing on the family line. In some South Asian cultures, other important reasons for wanting sons include the receipt of dowry payments at the time of marriage and the need for sons to perform certain religious duties. For example, according to Hindu tradition, sons are needed to light the funeral pyre when their deceased parents are cremated. By performing pind daan (making offerings to Brahmins and the poor), sons can also help in the salvation of their parents’ souls.
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