Daughter preference

Daughter preference describes human families seeking to bear and raise daughters, rather than sons.

Daughter preference is evident in contemporary Japan^[1] and Japanese-American immigrant families.^[2] South Korea has also demonstrated a measurable shift from son preference to daughter preference.^[3] Daughter preference appears at measurable levels in three Scandinavian countries: Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.^[4] Study found that a significant contributing factor to daughter preference was the "number of wife's sisters."^[5] In the matrilineal inheritance system of Malawi, daughter preference emerges if all existing children are sons.^[6]

Daughter preference or son preference is sometimes expressed by higher levels of household investment in offspring of preferred gender.^[7]