Where son eclipses the daughter: 19% desire for male child

In Rajasthan, almost all classes seem to prefer male child over female child. 

The fact has been highlighted in the latest National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4. As per the survey, around 19 per cent men and women in the state desire to have male child rather than girl child. On the other hand, there are only 1 per cent people who prefer daughters over sons.

According to NFHS-4, 18.8% women and 19% men said they wanted more sons than daughters. The survey also found that 92.5 per cent men in Rajasthan want at least one son while 89 per cent women said that they wanted a son. On the other hand, 88 per cent men and 86.6 per cent women said they wanted at least one daughter.

The survey also revealed that the people’s desire for having more kids was strongly affected by the number of sons they already had. 93 per cent women with two sons and 88 per cent women with one son said they didn’t want any more children compared to 38 per cent women with two daughters who didn’t want another child.

Significantly in NFHS-4 a major fall was has been recorded in the number of married women of the age between 14 and 49 years wanting another child. In the last edition of survey (NFHS-3), a decade ago, 68 per cent of such woman wanted another child, but in NFHS-4 the figure has dropped, and only 24 per cent of the married women between 15 and 49 years of age want another child. Similarly, the number of men aged between 15 and 54 years who want another child is 27 per cent, which was 49 per cent during a decade ago in NFHS-3.