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Child Gender and Parental Investments In India: Are Boys And Girls Treated Differently?

Silvia Helena Barcellos1, Leandro S Carvalho2, Adriana Lleras-Muney3

  • 1University of Southern California, 12025 Waterfront Dr. Playa Vista, CA 90094 ( silvia.barcellos@usc.edu ).

American Economic Journal. Applied Economics
|February 28, 2014
PubMed

Insights

Boys receive preferential treatment in rural India, including more childcare and longer breastfeeding, impacting their health and development compared to girls. This study uses a novel approach to confirm gender-based disparities in parental investment.

Area of Science:

  • Social Sciences
  • Economics
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Parental investment disparities between genders are debated in rural India.
  • Estimates may be biased by son-biased family planning.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate gender-based differences in parental investments in rural India.
  • To address potential biases in previous research using a novel identification strategy.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a novel identification strategy exploiting the randomness of gender at conception.
  • Analyzed data on parental investments, including childcare time, breastfeeding duration, and vitamin supplementation.

Main Results:

  • Boys receive significantly more childcare time than girls.
  • Boys are breastfed longer and receive more vitamin supplementation.
  • Boys exhibit advantages in height and weight compared to girls, exceeding those seen in other developing countries.

Conclusions:

  • Gender-based disparities in parental investment exist in rural India.
  • These disparities favor boys in terms of care and health outcomes.
  • Neither biological needs nor anticipated family size explain these observed gender-based differences.

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