Disability among children of immigrants from India and China: Is there excess disability among girls?

Abstract

We investigate whether there is excess morbidity among daughters of Indian or Chinese immigrants in the US by studying the prevalence of disability among children. We use data from the 2012–14 American Community Surveys on approximately 20,000 US-born children of Indian and Chinese immigrants. Children of US natives are used as a comparison group to account for innate differences in disability between the sexes. Results indicate that there is excess disability among daughters compared with sons among children of Chinese immigrants and children of immigrants from northern or western Indian states; this excess disability declines with younger age at arrival or longer exposure to the host country. Analysis using children of Filipino immigrants as an alternative comparison group yields similar excess disability rates for females.

Supplementary material is available for this article at: https://doi.org/10.1080/00324728.2020.1762911

Keywords:

• son preference
• sex discrimination
• immigrants
• parental investment
• disability
• health

Notes

1 Please direct all correspondence to Felix M. Muchomba, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, School of Social Work, 390 George Street, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA 08901; or by E-mail: [email protected]

2 The authors are grateful for comments from meeting participants at the Population Association of America Annual Meeting and the Society for Social Work and Research Conference.