Introduction: The study explores the relationship between son preference and the desire for more children in the context of polygyny in Pakistan. It also highlights the link between household wealth status and son preference.
Methods: Data analysis entails logistic regression and simple linear regression tests utilizing data from the Demographic and Health Survey 2017-2018. The sample size comprises 1796 women, belonging to polygynous families.
Results: The findings show that at each parity, the desire for more children strengthens with an increasing number of girls than boys and it moderates with a balanced sex composition of children. The overall desire for more children slightly decreases with the increasing number of children, yet it is greater among women having fewer sons than daughters. Son preferences increase with increasing wealth.
Conclusion: Women with more girls than boys continuously show a higher desire for more children. That could be translated as a pursuit of the desired number of sons. Son preference significantly shows a positive association with household wealth status.
Keywords: desire for more children; household wealth status; polygyny; son preference.
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