Sex-selective abortions and infant mortality in India: the role of parents’ stated son preference
In India, millions of female foetuses have been aborted since the 1980s alongside an abnormally high infant girl mortality rate; this has generated a vast literature exploring the root causes of son preference. The literature is sparse, however, on how the decisions to abort or neglect girls are mad...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis
2018
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48875/ |
| _version_ | 1848797868208422912 |
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| author | Robitaille, Marie-Claire Chatterjee, Ishita |
| author_facet | Robitaille, Marie-Claire Chatterjee, Ishita |
| author_sort | Robitaille, Marie-Claire |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | In India, millions of female foetuses have been aborted since the 1980s alongside an abnormally high infant girl mortality rate; this has generated a vast literature exploring the root causes of son preference. The literature is sparse, however, on how the decisions to abort or neglect girls are made. This paper examines mothers’ and fathers’ respective roles behind those decisions. Using NFHS-3 data, we show that sex- selective abortions are most commonly used if both spouses or if only the fathers prefer sons, while sex-selective neglect is used if only the mothers prefer sons. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:10:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-48875 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:10:43Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-488752018-04-17T14:53:17Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48875/ Sex-selective abortions and infant mortality in India: the role of parents’ stated son preference Robitaille, Marie-Claire Chatterjee, Ishita In India, millions of female foetuses have been aborted since the 1980s alongside an abnormally high infant girl mortality rate; this has generated a vast literature exploring the root causes of son preference. The literature is sparse, however, on how the decisions to abort or neglect girls are made. This paper examines mothers’ and fathers’ respective roles behind those decisions. Using NFHS-3 data, we show that sex- selective abortions are most commonly used if both spouses or if only the fathers prefer sons, while sex-selective neglect is used if only the mothers prefer sons. Taylor & Francis 2018 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48875/1/4Sex-selective%20Abortions%20and%20Infant%20Mortality%20in%20India-%20The%20Role%20of%20Parents%E2%80%99%20Stated%20Son%20Preference%20.pdf Robitaille, Marie-Claire and Chatterjee, Ishita (2018) Sex-selective abortions and infant mortality in India: the role of parents’ stated son preference. Journal of Development Studies, 54 (1). pp. 47-56. ISSN 1743-9140 India infant mortality sex-selective abortions son preference. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00220388.2016.1241389 doi:10.1080/00220388.2016.1241389 doi:10.1080/00220388.2016.1241389 |
| spellingShingle | India infant mortality sex-selective abortions son preference. Robitaille, Marie-Claire Chatterjee, Ishita Sex-selective abortions and infant mortality in India: the role of parents’ stated son preference |
| title | Sex-selective abortions and infant mortality in India: the role of parents’ stated son preference |
| title_full | Sex-selective abortions and infant mortality in India: the role of parents’ stated son preference |
| title_fullStr | Sex-selective abortions and infant mortality in India: the role of parents’ stated son preference |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sex-selective abortions and infant mortality in India: the role of parents’ stated son preference |
| title_short | Sex-selective abortions and infant mortality in India: the role of parents’ stated son preference |
| title_sort | sex-selective abortions and infant mortality in india: the role of parents’ stated son preference |
| topic | India infant mortality sex-selective abortions son preference. |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48875/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48875/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48875/ |