Delective discrimination against female children in rural Punjab, India

{{Summary
 * title=Delective discrimination against female children in rural Punjab, India
 * authors=Das Gupta, Monica
 * tags=uw-madison, wisconsin, sociology, demography, prelim, qual, WisconsinDemographyPrelimAugust2009
 * summary=This article supports the hypothesis that child sex discrimination in Punjab, India (the Indian state with the most imbalanced sex ratio) is tied to individual choice and "family building strategies" rather than a generalized or internalized social norm. Post-neonatal female child mortality is much higher for girls than boys, and even higher than neonatal mortality (which declines with age for boys). Mortality differs both by sex and birth order, with higher-order birth mortality being the heaviest for girls. Girl mortality sharply increases among parents who already have at least one daughter. Despite a wide consensus that maternal education tends to decrease child mortality, no mortality reduction is seen for this subset of girls by maternal education. As fertility falls among educated women, the pressure to have sons remains. While Punjabi girls were given less or delayed medical care when compared to boys (especially in the first 2 years of life) and cheaper/less nutritious foods, lack of medical care seems to be more important than nutrition differentials for imbalanced mortality. Also, SES accounts more for child mortality overall than does sex-based deprivation. While Das Gupta considers many hypotheses, she settles on the structural marginalization conclusion. Since cultural reciprocity and dowry practices lead individuals and families to rely on sons and male kin for economic support, women are less valued than men. This is similar to Dyson and Moore's (1983) low-autonomy/high-discrimination hypothesis, but focuses more on the consequences of patrilineal kinship and unidirectional resource flow. Another summary: Introduction: "South Asia is well known as being a region of the world where the normally higher number of females than males in the total population is reversed. Among the Indian states, historically Punjab in the Northwest has had the most imbalanced sex ratios. The excessive mortality of females that this reflects is commonly hypothesized to be due to discrimination against females, particularly female children, relative to males, in the allocation of food and health care within the household" (p. 77). However, this discrimination against female children may not be generalized, but rather may be related to birth order, with higher order females at greater risk of discrimination.

Methods
Data are from the Khanna Study, which is the first large field study of fertility behavior in a developing country. The wave of data used in this study began in 1984; 11 villages in Punjab were covered by a baseline census. Households were then surveyed every two months for a period of one year. Measures of maternity histories from all ever-married women and household consumption patterns were included. Analysis techniques involve simple descriptive statistics and crosstabulations. The Study Area: Punjab is the most prosperous region in India. It is well serviced by roads, electricity, schools and health services. Also, it is experiencing falling mortality and fertility rates to the extent that some areas may be characterized as in the "third stage" of the demographic transition. Results: Women's statements regarding the number of children of each sex that they would like to have beyond those they already have indicates a clear preference for sons-especially among more educated women. Also, the desired number of daughters falls much more sharply with age than the desired number of sons. These preferences are reflected in mortality differentials. Between one and 23 months, when a large proportion of total childhood deaths takes place, the female rates are nearly twice those of males. Boys who are born to mothers with one or more surviving sons have slightly higher mortality than boys born to mothers with no surviving sons. But mortality for girls born to mothers with one or more surviving daughters is very high relative to mortality for girls born to mothers with no daughters. Although uneducated women experience higher overall child mortality rates, the mortality of girls born to mothers who already have one or more surviving daughters is similar among educated and uneducated mothers. Differentials in child mortality are explained partly by the fact that males receive better quality food (more proteins and fats) and more medical care.

Discussion
Despite improving conditions that have lowered overall childhood mortality, sex differentials have persisted. Discrimination against female children is closely related to individual parents' family building strategies. This supports the hypothesis that discrimination is not generalized but is rather based on birth order. Excess mortality therefore falls selectively on a subset of female children-those born to a family that already has a daughter. Of special importance is the finding that young, educated cohorts are most likely to discriminate because of their reduced fertility. That is, these women still want one or two sons, but have reduced their completed parity to less than three. This increases pressure to reduce the number of daughters. SES affects overall child mortality, but it does not affect sex differentials. Discrimination against female children is not due to economic hardship or low levels of female participation in the labor force. Rather, discrimination is caused by the "structural marginalization" of women. "Punjabi society is exceptional . . . in being very strongly patrilineal in organization and patrilocal in residence. Relationships with matrilateral kin are negligible compared with other parts of India. Thus when a daughter marries and leaves the household, her ability to contribute to the subsequent welfare of her natal household is virtually nil. The flow of resources is unidirectional from the woman's father's household to her husband's household, and this flow continues throughout her life" (p. 96). }}
 * journal=Population and Development Review
 * pub_date=1987
 * journal_volume=13