India's Male Child Preference Still Persists As Over 80% Of Parents Want 'At Least One Male Child' In Their Lifetime

Even after 75 years of Independence, the prevalence of a male child in Indian households persists as over 8- per cent of households mention that they would prefer to have at least one male child in their lifetime. The National Family Health Survey is one of the most comprehensive surveys of Indian households carried out by the government. The 'son preference' is primarily rooted in the ancient psychology that the male child would carry forward the family's legacy and name and take care of the parents in their old age. On the other hand, daughters would leave their marital homes and cause an additional dowry burden on the family.

NFHS-5 Highlighted More Females Than Males In India

The fifth round of NFHS also highlighted that India recorded more girls than boys for the first time. Another silver lining to the cloud of patriarchy is that nearly 5.17 per cent of women in India prefer to have daughters compared to 4.96 per cent in India in the fourth round of NFHS in 2015-16. Even though the male child preference exists, the recent survey highlighted several women empowerment and development stats. For instance, the literacy rate among females has gone up, whereas the fertility rate has slipped.

'Pious' Responsibility For Sons To Care For Parents

For a long time, India has been a patriarchal society, and it has been considered a 'pious' responsibility of the son to take care of his parents. In contrast, the daughters have no such obligation. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) had highlighted the same concern of preferring a male heir over a girl child. The preference for male children among Indian families has resulted in about 63 million women statistically "missing" from the country's population.

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