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] One 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]