ABSTRACT
Son preference is a universal phenomenon and its strangulating tentacles are felt keenly in low-income countries. Using field data from Madurai District, Tamil Nadu, this paper examines the effect of socioeconomic characteristics on the actual probability of having sons through a maximum likelihood logistic estimation and multiple regression analysis. The preference for sons over daughters has economic and sociocultural utility dimensions. It stems from the fact that sons promise upward social and economic mobility, while daughters are seen as a burden. Despite economic advancements, rapidly increasing female and overall literacy rates and increased decision-making ability among women, the preference for sons continues to be fuelled from an economic utilitarian point of view. Free education and increased job opportunities to lower castes and women will contribute greatly to solving this problem as it will even out the economic need for sons.
