Project's title: Sex Preference in Relation to Infant and Child Mortality and Fertility

Objectives: There is a lack of studies on the relationship between child mortality, socio economic variables, sex preference and fertility. Thus, we make an attempt keeping in mind the following objectives:

• To study the sex-preference by region and socio economic factors like religion, standard of living and education after controlling the mortality levels.
• To examine the child loss by sex composition of children ever born and related characteristics of women.
• To study sex composition of living children and contraceptive use
• To study the relationship between sex composition of living and dead children and the desire for additional child.
• To study the determinants of ideal family size and the treatment of the girl child in respect to health care.

Data & Methodology: The earlier studies on son preference and fertility in India were either based on state specific surveys or NFHS-I (Das 1987; Arnold el al 1998; Arnold). NFHS-II data have come up after these studies. We propose to use data from NFHS-II in this study.

• NFHS II data will be analysed to study the relationship between sex preference, infant-child mortality, socio-economic variables and fertility at the state and regional levels.
• We will develop some indices to understand the sex preference. Bivariate and multivariate techniques will be applied to analyse the variables such as - sex differentials in early neonatal, post neonatal, late neonatal and child mortality by region and socio economic variables. Sex preference in ideal family size, contraceptive use, demand for another child, differential stopping behaviour (DSB) by region and socio economic variables will be studied.