Son Preference Declining: Gender Bias in Parenting
- A meaningful shift in gender preference is underway globally, resulting in an estimated 7 million more girls being born in the last 25 years.
- Historically, biases favoring sons, exacerbated by policies like China's one-child policy, resulted in sex-selective abortions and imbalanced populations.
- Annual excess male births have dropped from 1.7 million in 2000 to approximately 200,000, nearing the natural birth ratio of 105 boys for every 100 girls.South Korea, once...
The world is witnessing a significant shift in gender preference, saving millions of girls globally. This positive trend, reversing decades of son preference, sees girls outperforming boys in education and women gaining ground in the workforce. Actually, an estimated 7 million girls have been “saved” in the last quarter-century. Government policies and changing societal views on gender roles are driving this movement, which contributes too a drop in annual excess male births. While challenges remain, including post-birth discrimination, the decline in primarykeyword “son preference” points to significant social progress. Explore the data changing attitudes in family parenting and the evolving role girls play in society. For more on this topic, keep up with News Directory 3. Discover what’s next, in this interesting shift in secondarykeyword “gender bias”.
Global Gender Preference Shift Saves Millions of Girls
Updated June 15, 2025
A meaningful shift in gender preference is underway globally, resulting in an estimated 7 million more girls being born in the last 25 years. This change marks a departure from decades of son preference that led to skewed sex ratios in many countries.
Historically, biases favoring sons, exacerbated by policies like China’s one-child policy, resulted in sex-selective abortions and imbalanced populations. The Economist estimates that since 1980, about 50 million fewer girls were born than statistically expected.
Though, this trend is reversing. Annual excess male births have dropped from 1.7 million in 2000 to approximately 200,000, nearing the natural birth ratio of 105 boys for every 100 girls.South Korea, once reporting almost 116 boys per 100 girls in 1990, now has a near-normal ratio.
Several factors contribute to this shift. Reduced discrimination against girls and women in education and employment plays a crucial role. Girls are now outperforming boys academically. In the most recent international PISA tests, 15-year-old girls outperformed boys in reading in 79 of 81 participating countries.The historic male advantage in math has also decreased.
Girls are also increasingly dominating higher education, with 113 female students for every 100 male students.While a gender pay gap persists, it is indeed narrowing, and young women in some U.S. urban areas are out-earning young men.
Government policies have accelerated this change. Countries like South Korea and China have cracked down on technologies enabling sex-selective abortion. In India, campaigns promoting the education and well-being of daughters have helped shift public opinion.
Opinion polls reflect this change. In South Korea, the percentage of women viewing sons as “necessary” fell from 48% to 6% between 1983 and 2003. Now, nearly half of women there express a preference for daughters. In japan, as early as 2002, 75% of couples wanting only one child hoped for a daughter.
Even in the U.S., where sex selection is available for in-vitro fertilization, evidence suggests a growing preference for girls among prospective and adoptive parents. Couples with a daughter are now less likely to continue trying for a son.
Despite this progress, challenges remain. Skewed birth ratios persist in northwest India, and post-birth discrimination, including unequal access to nutrition and healthcare, continues in parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Women worldwide still face unacceptable levels of violence and discrimination.
Some motivations behind the shift may not be entirely progressive.Boys are struggling in education and facing challenges transitioning into adulthood. Additionally, some parents may prefer girls due to stereotypes about them being more likely to provide care in old age.
Nonetheless of the underlying reasons, the decline in son preference represents significant social progress, measured by the millions of girls’ lives saved. The hope is that societies will reach a point where daughters and sons are equally loved and welcomed.