Can concern for the long-term care of older parents explain son preference at birth in India?

ABSTRACT

This study examines whether concern for the long-term care of older parents is the primary reason for son preference in India. Controlling for important socioeconomic factors that are believed to affect son preference, we find that concern for long-term care is the principal cause of son preference in India. Sons serve as the primary caregivers to elderly parents, while daughters are mostly engaged in caring for parents-in-law. This trend is more acute in rural than in urban areas. Our study also finds a strong implication of the filial relationship for the long-term care of elderly parents.

KEYWORDS:

• Long-term care
• professional care
• social security systems
• son preference

Acknowledgments

This research used microdata from the Preference Parameters Study of Osaka University’s 21st Century COE Program “Behavioral Macrodynamics Based on Surveys and Experiments” and its Global COE project “Human Behavior and Socioeconomic Dynamics.” We acknowledge the program/project’s contributors: Yoshiro Tsutsui, Fumio Ohtake, and Shinsuke Ikeda.

Funding

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 15K17075 and the Murata Science Foundation Grant ID H2710.

Notes

^1. APA indicates allocation personalisee d`autonomie.

^2. Medicaid is the social health care program in the USA.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 15K17075 and the Murata Science Foundation Grant ID H2710.