MAY GOD GIVE SONS TO ALL - GENDER AND CHILD-MORTALITY IN INDIA

Using cross-sectional data from more than 350 districts in India in 19 81, I test whether female labor force participation and kinship struct ures explain gender differences in the mortality of children ages 0 to 5. The relationship of mortality differentials to economic developmen t, socioeconomic stratification, rice cultivation, and region is also examined Results suggest that kinship structures and female labor forc e participation are important factors in gender differences in child m ortality and these factors reinforce each other to produce especially high sex differentials in mortality. While agricultural, industrial, a nd urban development appear to reduce the relative survival of girls, male literacy levels seem unrelated to female survival. Rice cultivati on consistently enhances female survival. Gender differences in child mortality between the North and South regions of India remain unexplai ned.