2026-08-24 イリノイ大学アーバナ・シャンペーン校
＜関連情報＞
- https://aces.illinois.edu/news/how-preference-sons-affects-womens-mental-health-rural-india
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304387826001501
インドにおける男児選好、世代間家庭力学、そして女性のメンタルヘルス Son preference, intergenerational household dynamics, and women’s mental health in India
S. Anukriti, Catalina Herrera-Almanza, Shahadat Hossain, Mahesh Karra
Journal of the Development Economy Available online: 24 June 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2026.103867
Highlights
- Son preference affects women’s mental health across generations in rural India.
- A co-resident daughter-in-law’s firstborn son reduces mothers-in-law’s risk of anxiety or depression.
- No average effect emerges for daughters-in-law, but older women without a son are adversely affected.
- Firstborn sons shift childcare support within households and raise younger daughters-in-law’s labor supply.
Abstract
We examine how son preference affects women’s mental health across generations using original survey data from extended households in rural India. Leveraging exogenous variation in the sex of the firstborn child, we find that mothers-in-law (MILs) whose co-resident daughter-in-law (DIL) had a firstborn son face a 15 percent lower risk of anxiety or depression. In contrast, firstborn sex has no average effect on DIL mental health, although adverse effects of not having a son emerge among older DILs who face a closing reproductive window. We also find that a DIL’s firstborn son shifts MIL time allocation toward childcare and increases her support for DIL employment when children are young, boosting younger DILs’ labor force participation. These findings reveal an intergenerational pathway linking son preference to women’s mental health, intrahousehold dynamics, and economic outcomes beyond fertility alone.
