A Comparative Study on Single-Child Mothers' Decisions to Have Additional Children Based on First-Born’s Gender: How Far the Situation Has Changed between NFHS-3 and NFHS-5?

Aiswarya U, Amrita School of Business, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bangalore
Angan Sengupta, Department Of Management, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bangalore

Fertility has reached replacement level in India. But could the gender preference be mitigated in India? This study analyses Indian mothers who have delivered only one child, and the child is surviving, to assess the differentials in fertility preference based on the gender of the first child. This study analyses data on fertility preference among the women having given birth to one child (who is surviving) from the National Family Health Surveys (NFHS)-Third and Fifth rounds. To understand the pattern of fertility decision-making besides bivariate analysis, binary logistic regressions and Bayesian Probability analysis have also been conducted. Women across different socio-economic backgrounds generally prefer to have two children if they have a female child. Rural women have higher likelihood to opt for additional child only in case of first female child. The odds ratio for having more children and for no more child for the mothers with male child was significantly associated with wealth profile, which were not statistically significant during NFHS-5. However, for mothers of a daughter, the odds for having additional child did not vary with wealth index during both surveys. Muslims demonstrate higher odds to opt for additional children irrespective of the gender of the first one.

Keywords: Fertility

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