Reply to The eternal question (re: 2 boys)

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[quote=Anonymous]Many posting assuming that girls is the sex of preference. Maybe this is true among mothers but there are evidence of a son preference among fathers at least.

Dahl and Moretti (2004) show that in the US and among all race group and all over the country there are evidence for a son preference:

They document that having girls has significant effects on divorce, child custody, marriage, shotgun marriage when the sex of the child is known before birth , and fertility stopping rules. Taken together, our empirical evidence i
ndicates that parents in the U.S. favor boys over
girls. We begin by documenting that parents with girls are significantly more likely to be divorced than parents with boys. The effect is quantitatively substantial, with a 1 to 7 percent higher probability of divorce for parents with daughters. Moreover, divorced fathers are more
likely to have their sons versus daughters living with them. We also show that women with only girls are substantially more likely to have never been married than women with only boys.
Perhaps the most striking evidence comes from the analysis of shotgun marriages using Vital Statistics birth record data. Mothers who find out their child will be a boy are more likely to marry their partner before delivery. Specifically, among those who have an ultrasound test during their pregnancy, we find that mothers carrying a boy are more likely to be married at delivery.
When we turn to fertility stopping rules, we find that in families with at least two children, the probability of having another child is higher for all-girl families than all-boy families. This preference for sons seems to be largely driven by fathers. Survey evidence reveals that while
women on average have only a slight preference for daughters, men report that they would rather
have a boy by more than a two to one margin.
[/quote]

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