The Rise of Sonless Families in Asia and North Africa.

A neglected consequence of declining fertility is the likely rise of families with children of one sex-only sons or only daughters. Increases in such families present important demographic shifts that may weaken patrilineal family systems. We assess whether sons-only and daughters-only families rose in Asia and North Africa from the early 1990s to around 2015. Using 88 surveys and two censuses, we examine how the number and sex composition of children of mothers aged 40-49 changed across 20 countries, representing 87% of the region's population and 54% of the global population. We also compare observed trends to sex-indifferent counterfactuals, quantify contributions of fertility declines with decompositions, and investigate subnational trends in China and India. Increases in sons-only families were universal where numbers of children fell. Growth of daughters-only families was suppressed in patrilineal contexts, but these sonless families still rose significantly in 13 of 18 countries where numbers declined. By 2015, over a quarter of families in the region had only sons and nearly a fifth only daughters. There was considerable variation across countries: recent levels ranged from 28.3% to 3.4% daughters-only and from 40.1% to 6.0% sons-only. China and the rest of East Asia had the highest shares.

A Good Age to Marry? An Intergenerational Model of the Influence of Timing Attitudes on Entrance into Marriage.

Do timing attitudes-subjective evaluations of particular ages as good ages to marry-influence entrance into marriage? To address this question, we formulated an intergenerational model of how parents' and children's timing attitudes influence children's marriage behavior. We theorized that both parents' and children's timing attitudes influence expectations of when children will marry. In turn, both parents' and children's marital expectations would influence children's actual entrance into marriage. We tested the model using intergenerational panel data from Nepal collected in 2008-2014. Timing attitudes of young people and their parents did influence expectations, as well as entrance into marriage. Young people's own attitudes were more influential than their parents' attitudes in determining children's expectations, but not behavior. Further, while the influence of parents was relatively even, mothers appear slightly more influential than fathers.

Another Gendered Demographic Dividend: Adjusting to a Future without Sons.

Sonless families may pose another gendered demographic dividend. As fertility declines, families with only daughters are likely to grow. In turn, patriarchal family systems may weaken when many families are unable to engage in patriarchal practices. I examine some of these theorized dynamics in India. Sonless families did grow as fertility declined, reaching 10 percent in India as a whole in 2015 and approaching 20 percent in states with earlier fertility declines. I also identify a substantial influence of children's sex on mothers' expectations of old-age support. Using panel data from the India Human Development Survey (IHDS), I compare women's expectations after they had children to earlier expectations when they did not yet have children. Women with sons kept or further embraced patriarchal expectations that a son would provide support. Sonless mothers largely gave up patriarchal expectations, turning to daughters or away from children altogether.

The Influence of Developmental Idealism on Marital Attitudes, Expectations, and Timing.

Recent theory suggests that developmental idealism (DI) is an important source of variation and change in family behavior, yet this suggestion is largely untested at the individual level. This study examines the influence of DI beliefs and values on individuals' entrance into marriage. We hypothesize that when individuals and their parents endorse DI, they enter into marriage later, or more slowly. We also hypothesize that two pathways connecting DI to marriage are the instillation of older timing attitudes and expectations of marrying at older ages. We test these hypotheses using panel data collected in Nepal from 2008 to 2014. When young people and their parents endorsed DI, the young people valued older ages at marriage and expected to marry later. Young people's own DI endorsement also delayed their entrance into marriage, but parents' DI did not.

Early Women, Late Men: Timing Attitudes and Gender Differences in Marriage.

Around the world, women marry earlier than men, but it is not well understood why this gender gap exists. Using panel data collected in Nepal, the authors investigate whether attitudes about marital timing held by unmarried youth and their parents account for women marrying earlier than men. They also examine whether the influence of timing attitudes differs by gender. On average, unmarried youth and their parents viewed 20 to 25 as acceptable ages for women to marry, while ages 23 to 30 were appropriate for men. In turn, women entering the acceptable marriage age range earlier than men accounted for a third of the gender gap in marital timing. The influence of youth and parents' timing attitudes did differ by gender, but only at the extreme. When they were much too young for marriage, both genders were less likely to marry, but this dampening effect was substantially larger for women.

The Decline of Arranged Marriage? Marital Change and Continuity in India.

This article evaluates whether arranged marriage declined in India from 1970 to 2012. Specifically, the authors examine trends in spouse choice, the length of time spouses knew each other prior to marriage, intercaste marriage, and consanguineous marriage at the national level, as well as by region, urban residence, and religion/caste. During this period, women were increasingly active in choosing their own husbands, spouses meeting on their wedding day decreased, intercaste marriage rose, and consanguineous marriage fell. However, many of these changes were modest in size and substantial majorities of recent marriages still show the hallmarks of arranged marriage. Further, instead of displacing parents, young women increasingly worked with parents to choose husbands collectively. Rather than unilateral movement towards Western marriage practices, as suggested by theories of family change and found in other Asian contexts, these trends point to a hybridization of customary Western and Indian practices.

Caste and Choice: The Influence of Developmental Idealism on Marriage Behavior.

Is the marriage behavior of young people determined by their socioeconomic characteristics or their endorsement of developmental idealism? This article addresses this question using a unique longitudinal data set from Nepal and provides the first individual-level test of developmental idealism theory. The authors find that unmarried individuals with greater endorsement of developmental idealism in 2008 were more likely by 2012 to choose their own spouse, including a spouse of a different caste, rather than have an arranged marriage. Those with salaried work experience were also less likely to have arranged marriages, but urban proximity and education were not significant. The authors conclude that both developmental idealism and socioeconomic characteristics influence marriage and that their influences are largely independent.

Fertility Decline, Gender Composition of Families, and Expectations of Old Age Support.

Recent fertility declines in non-Western countries may have the potential to transform gender systems. One pathway for such transformations is the creation of substantial proportions of families with children of only one gender. Such families, particularly those with only daughters, may facilitate greater symmetry between sons and daughters. This article explores whether such shifts may influence gendered expectations of old age support. In keeping with patriarchal family systems, old age support is customarily provided by sons, but not daughters, in India. Using data from the 2005 Indian Human Development Survey, I find that women with sons overwhelmingly expect old age support from a son. By contrast, women with only daughters largely expect support from a daughter or a source besides a child. These findings suggest that fertility decline may place demographic pressure on gendered patterns of old age support and the gender system more broadly.

Going nuclear? Family structure and young women's health in India, 1992-2006.

Scholars traditionally argued that industrialization, urbanization, and educational expansion lead to a decline in extended families and complementary rise in nuclear families. Some have suggested that such transitions are good for young married women because living in nuclear families benefits their health. However, extended families may also present advantages for young women's health that outweigh any disadvantages. Using the Indian National Family Health Survey, this article examines whether young married women living in nuclear families have better health than those in patrilocal extended families. It also examines whether young married women's living arrangements are changing over time and, if so, how such changes will affect their health. Results show that young married women living in nuclear families do not have better health than those in patrilocal extended families. Of eight health outcomes examined, only five differ significantly by family structure. Further, of the five outcomes that differ, four are patrilocal extended-family advantages and only one is a nuclear-family advantage. From 1992 to 2006, the percentage of young married women residing in nuclear families increased, although the majority remained in patrilocal extended families. This trend toward nuclear families will not benefit young women's health.

Determinants of marital quality in an arranged marriage society.

Drawing on a uniquely large number of items on marital quality, this study explores the determinants of marital quality in Chitwan Valley, Nepal. Marital quality is measured with five dimensions identified through exploratory factor analysis, comprising satisfaction, communication, togetherness, problems, and disagreements. Gender, education, spouse choice, and marital duration emerge as the most important determinants of these dimensions of marital quality. Specifically, men, those with more schooling, those who participated in the choice of their spouse, and those who have been married longer have higher levels of marital quality. By contrast, caste, occupation, age at marriage, and number of children have little to no association with marital quality. However, while we identify key determinants of marital quality in this context, the majority of variation in marital quality remains unexplained.

Schemas of Marital Change: From Arranged Marriages to Eloping for Love.

In recent decades, arranged marriages have become less common in many parts of Asia. This paper explores people's schemas surrounding just such a marital change in one Indian village using semi-structured interviews (N=30) and ethnographic fieldwork. Respondents categorize marriages into two main types: arranged marriages and elopements, also called love marriages. Arranged marriages were common in the past, while elopements are now dominant. Both types of marriages have characteristics that are perceived positively and the ideal marriage is a hybrid of the two. Respondents ascribe the rise of love marriages to educational expansion, technological change, and foreign influence. Many also see it as an inevitable part of a larger process of socio-economic change. These schemas are strongly shaped by global influences, but also reflect multiple layers of local beliefs and cultures.

Women's Agency and the Quality of Family Relationships in India.

The role of family context in determining women's agency has been addressed through kinship patterns, household structure, and domestic violence. This study suggests that another aspect of family context - family relationship quality - can also influence women's agency. Data from the Women's Reproductive Histories Survey, collected in Madhya Pradesh, India, are used to examine whether family relationship quality is a determinant of women's agency. Results show that women with higher quality relationships with husbands and parents-in-law do have greater agency. Further, family relationship quality is just as influential as other well known determinants of agency, including education and employment.

Like daughter, like son? Fertility decline and the transformation of gender systems in the family.

BACKGROUND: An important question for population research is whether fertility decline transforms gender systems. OBJECTIVE: This paper contributes to answering this broad question by examining how fertility decline may change the relative value and roles of daughters and sons in families. First, I outline theoretical pathways, suggesting that a key factor is the gender composition of families. As fertility declines, the proportion of families with children of only one gender increases, which may facilitate greater gender symmetry between daughters and sons. Second, I explore how fertility decline may have contributed to the transformation of the relative value and roles of sons and daughters in practice in one place. METHODS: The analysis draws primarily on semi-structured interviews with 30 respondents living in one Indian village. This village is located in a district where fertility has declined to at least the replacement level. RESULTS: Respondents perceive changes in the gender system, including less son preference, more equal schooling for sons and daughters, more freedom in marriage and premarital relationships, and perhaps greater daughter support of parents in old age. CONCLUSIONS: The results describe changes in the relative value, treatment, and behavior of sons and daughters that are consistent with the theorized effects of fertility decline. Future research is needed, however, to determine whether fertility decline makes a causal contribution to changes in the gender system.

Marital Quality from a Rural Indian Context in Comparative Perspective.

This paper describes the conception of marital quality held by respondents living in one Indian village, as identified through an analysis of semi-structured interviews (n=46). Their conception of marital quality is summed up in the overarching ideal of the life partner and characterized by the dimensions of love, peace, understanding, communication, trust, and balance. This conception is then compared to the conception of marital quality found in the literature, which was developed in reference to Western contexts. The comparison suggests that the villagers' conception of marital quality intersects in many ways with that found in the literature, but there are also important differences. These results point to the importance of greater examination of marital quality in non-Western contexts without unthinkingly applying Western measures.

The quality of family relationships and use of maternal health-care services in India.

Marital quality is well established as a determinant of health in Western contexts, yet the importance of relationship quality to health in non-Western contexts is largely limited to a focus on domestic violence. Using the Women's Reproductive Histories Survey, this study examines whether women with higher-quality family relationships are more likely than others to use maternal health-care services in Madhya Pradesh, India. Results show that among nuclear families, women with better marital relationships are more likely than others to use antenatal care services and to deliver in a health-care facility. Among joint families, women who have better relationships with their in-laws are more likely to use antenatal care services. The results further suggest that women's agency mediates some, but not all, of the effect of relationship quality on use of maternal health-care services.

Couples' reports of women's autonomy and health-care use in Nepal.

Using data from interviews with matched couples recorded in the 2001 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey, this report explores how incorporating both spouses' reports of household decisionmaking may change the understanding of the determinants and consequences of women's autonomy. Results indicate that a substantial proportion of couples disagree about who makes household decisions, but the determinants of women's autonomy are still largely similar according to both spouses'reports. The assessment of the effects of two important sources of autonomy--women's education and employment--differs significantly between spouses, however. When spouses agree that the wife is autonomous, the association between her autonomy and her use of health-care services is found to be substantially stronger than when spouses disagree about her autonomy. This finding suggests that the association between women's autonomy and health-care-service use may be underestimated when only women's reports are considered.

Do Women's Land Rights Promote Empowerment and Child Health in Nepal?

Women's land rights are increasingly put forth as a means to promote development by empowering women, increasing productivity, and improving welfare. However, little empirical research has evaluated these claims. This paper uses the 2001 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey to explore whether women's land rights empower women and benefit young children's health in Nepal. The results provide support for both of these hypotheses. Women who own land are significantly more likely to have the final say in household decisions, a measure of empowerment. Similarly, children of mothers who own land are significantly less likely to be severely underweight.

Like Her Own: Ideals and Experiences of the Mother-in-law/Daughter-in-law Relationship.

This article explores ideals and experiences of the mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship using semi-structured interviews with 46 members of 22 families living in one Indian village. Ideally, the relationship is characterized by love and understanding, where one's mother-in-law or daughter-in-law is like one's own daughter or mother. In practice, the relationship varies in quality. Some women experienced affectionate, high quality relationships, while others' relationships were characterized by hurtful exchanges and not speaking. Previous literature portrays the relationship as negative, but these results point to the relevance of positive aspects as well. I also suggest that these ideals and experiences are shaped by the joint family system. The joint family system contributes to the strongly positive ideal, while the tensions that women experience arise from the contradictory family locations that they occupy within that system. Daughters-in-law and mothers-in-law are simultaneously strangers and close family members.