Measuring Mother’s Empowerment Through Culture of Son Preference in Pakistan Paper No. 01-2022

Abstract

This paper highlights whether giving birth to a son plays a role in determining mother’s empowerment in Pakistan and in particular, if the birth-order of the son has any additional impact in uplifting the mother’s status within a household, using the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS) 2012-13. In Pakistan, the household’s economic conditions make parents treat their sons and daughters differently and ultimately, giving preference to sons over daughters, in terms of education, health and nutrition, as the social and economic utility of a son, overpowers that of a daughter. In the presence of this culture of son preference, if women then give birth to a son or a number of sons, then it should help empower them. The results of the study show having a son significantly helps in empowering mothers in Pakistan. In contrast, the son’s birth-order (both higher or lower) is not an important factor for improving mother’s empowerment. Mother’s empowerment is mainly driven by the number of sons, and age of the son, and these results are more pronounced in rural areas of Pakistan, and for mothers belonging to poor households.