Son Preference Among the Edwardian Middle Classes
22 Pages Posted: 25 Nov 2015
Date Written: January 1, 2015
Abstract
This paper reports on a line of investigation into the child gender preferences of a sample of British civil servants working in London around 1901. Child gender preferences have rarely been investigated in developed countries and the historical literature for the UK is remarkably sparse. The paper demonstrates sufficient evidence for son preference among these parents to make the topic merit further investigation. The present author is unable to carry this out himself and hopes instead that by publicizing this research somebody more youthful than he will be encouraged to take on this project. It is an interesting, even an important, topic and one that is relatively easy (though time-consuming) to undertake.
Keywords: gender, preference, Edwardian, son
JEL Classification: J13
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation