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Changes in parental gender preference in the USA: evidence from 1850 to 2019

Author

Listed:
  • Todd R. Jones

    (Mississippi State University
    CESifo
    IZA)

  • Matthew J. Millington

    (Arizona State University)

  • Joseph Price

    (IZA
    Brigham Young University
    NBER)

Abstract

We examine the degree to which parental gender preferences in the USA have changed over time. To quantify levels of parental sex preference, we compare the likelihood that mothers have a third child given the gender makeup of their first two children. We construct a novel dataset of women’s fertility histories using full-count censuses from 1850–1880 and 1900–1940 and extend the sample to 2019 using more recent datasets. We find a preference for having a mix of genders with only a small preference for sons. We find that a woman is about 2 percentage points more likely to have a third child if the sex of her first two children is the same, and this effect was very stable from 1850 to 1940. In contrast, we find that this effect gets much larger after 1940, reaching a high point in 1990–2000 of about 6–7 percentage points.

Suggested Citation

  • Todd R. Jones & Matthew J. Millington & Joseph Price, 2023. "Changes in parental gender preference in the USA: evidence from 1850 to 2019," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(4), pages 3057-3070, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:36:y:2023:i:4:d:10.1007_s00148-023-00957-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-023-00957-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Jesse McDevitt-Irwin & James R. Irwin, 2025. "Infant mortality among US whites in the 19th century: New evidence from childhood sex ratios," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 52(10), pages 303-350.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sex composition; Gender makeup; Preference;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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