Posted on 06/24/2011 7:18:02 PM PDT by TheDingoAteMyBaby
LiveScience is reporting a new Gallup Poll which finds:
If they were only allowed to have one child, more Americans would prefer it be a boy rather than a girl, a new survey finds.
Despite the intervening woman's movement, the results are very similar to those found when the same question was asked of Americans in 1941.
The Gallup polling agency asked a random sample of 1,020 American adults whether they'd prefer to have a girl or a boy if they could only chose one. Forty percent said they'd pick a boy, 28 percent said they would want a girl, and the rest didn't mind either way or weren't sure.
In 1941, Americans asked a similar question responded with 38 percent preferring a boy, 24 percent preferring a girl, and the rest with no preference. The question has been asked eight other times in the intervening years, with the numbers remaining fairly constant.
The preference for boys over girls is driven by men, 49 percent of whom said they'd want a son. Only 22 percent said they'd prefer a daughter. Women, in contrast, showed no significant preference, with 31 percent preferring a boy and 32 percent preferring a girl.
Americans younger than 30 are the most likely to say they'd prefer a boy, with 54 percent making that choice, and 27 percent preferring a baby girl. The gap then declines steadily with age. Education also plays a role: People with a postgraduate education break even in their preferences, while 44 percent of those with a high-school education or less prefer boys, compared with 25 percent who prefer girls.
The restriction of having but one child seems critical here. A 2006 study pubiished in the journal Fertility and Sterility asked 1,997 Americans what their preferences for a child's sex would be if they could take advantage of preconception sex selection technologies. The researchers reported:
Eight percent of respondents would use preconception sex selection technology, 74% were opposed, and 18% were undecided. If the sex selection process was simplified to taking a pill, 18% would be willing to use such a medication, 59% were opposed, and 22% were undecided. In terms of gender choices, 39% of respondents would like their first child to be a son, 19% would like their first child to be a daughter, and 42% had no preference. Overall, 50% wished to have a family with an equal number of boys and girls, 7% with more boys than girls, 6% with more girls than boys, 5% with only boys, 4% with only girls, and 27% had no preference.
Preconception sex selection technology via sperm separation is unlikely to be used by the majority of the United States population and is unlikely to have a significant impact on the natural sex ratio.
Of course, the practice of sex selective abortions is significantly skewing male/female sex ratios in China and India. But relative scarcity may have an upside; a 2010 paper found some evidence that baby girls in India are being treated better [PDF] than previously.
What this isnt telling you is that the poll was taken in only two cities. Dearborn, MI and San Fran, CA.
NONSENSE!
My first grandchild, a grand DAUGHTER, is 6 months old and the most WONDERFUL person on the planet!
Yep. I wouldn’t trade my two girls for anything.
The eldest has 4 boys and the youngest has 2 boys and a funny and mischievous 2 year old daughter. ( I love her to death)
Well, I love all my grand kids, but she knows how to pull grandpa’s strings!
:)
I thought I’d be one of those types who would want a boy when I had kids, but God blessed me with 2 of the most wonderful and delightful GIRLS evah.
Ain’t no way I’d have a boychild now...they break things. : )
I don’t think any of us would trade what we have for another gender. Maybe the question was what gender you would like to have first? Either way, this doesn’t mean that parents like boys more than girls.
Maybe, just maybe, they intuitively notice women have a 21 million person majority in this country as of the latest census.
Isn’t that gender imbalance mostly concentrated among senior citizens?
Both of my son’s first children are daughters and they are my pride and joy, not that I love their sons any less but I have so much in common with the girls.
They can get ultra sounds and abort those girls at taxpayer expense , just like in third world countrys
I can understand wanting a boy to carry on the family name. The first baby I did not have a preference. The second and third I would like to have had a baby boy, but got two more beautiful girls. I have never been sorry. God was good to give me three children to raise and I am proud of all three (who are now 60, 57 and 51.)
I will admit that if I could only have one child, and I would depend on said child for financial maintenance in my dotage, I would prefer a son. I’m just thinking about earning potential, particularly married men in comparison to married women.
“Ain’t no way I’d have a boychild now...they break things. : )”
You haven’t met my 2 year old grand daughter!
:0)
I have 7 daughters.
5 of them are teenagers right now.
They all stood together for their oldest sister’s wedding 1 week ago this very moment.
They make me weep with thankful joy for their inner and outer beauty.
I’m sure we would love boys just as much if we had them, but the only complaint I have about girls is the shortage of bathrooms.
42% had no preference
and the idiot writer first links this “study” to the women’s movement?? eh??
I was quite delighted with a daughter in 1982, now quite successful in web site design, and living in Memphis.
Now, I am the proud father of a four month old, happy
boy, half American/half Filipino.
I have the best of both worlds.
The first born was a boy. The second born was a girl . . . when the doctors pulled her out an announced "It's A Girl", my comment was "Oh, $hit".
My reason for not wanting a girl was because I was one, and grew up with four of them. We are a pain in the butt, emotional wrecks. I was selfish & did not want to deal with all those hormones.
Would I trade our daughter for a boy? HELL NO!! She is the most awesome person you will ever meet.
;-)
Boys or girls....ahh, tough choice!
But I think girls would have given me gray hair before my time.
Wouldn’t trade my boys for anything! :)
And I only have 4. 9, 8, 6, 2 they are a blast.
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