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Fertility norms and son preference in Morocco and Tunisia: does women's status matter?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Carla Makhlouf Obermeyer
Carla Makhlouf Obermeyer
Affiliation:
Harvard University, School of Public Health, Boston, USA
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Summary

This paper investigates the normative and behavioural dimensions of son preference in Morocco and Tunisia, using data from the Demographic and Health Surveys of the two countries. It considers three measures of son preference: (1) mothers' ideal number of children, and any preference for having more sons than daughters; (2) the desire for additional children, given their existing family; (3) reported use of contraception in relation to the existing number of children of each sex. The analyses indicate a moderate preference for sons in both countries, and suggest that this preference is somewhat stronger in Tunisia. These findings are interpreted within the cultural context of the two countries, and in particular societal notions of women's status.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 28 , Issue 1 , January 1996 , pp. 57 - 72
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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