Nancy Luke Receives R21 Grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Fathers are instrumental in the development of their children, yet fathers’ time is not always equally distributed across sons and daughters. Research in the U.S. finds that fathers spend more time with sons and more time with all children if they have a son. Gender differences in fathers’ time investments could be even larger in high son-preference settings across Asia, and have a greater impact on the relative well-being of girls and boys. The first goal of this project is to conduct analyses using time diary data from the South India Community Health Study (SICHS) to examine fathers’ time with children overall, with sons and daughters, and by the gender composition of siblings. The second goal is to understand how family context, including fathers’ and mothers’ gender ideology and grandparental-caregiving, influence fathers’ time with sons and daughters. Findings regarding how and why fathers treat boys and girls unequally have important implications for policies and interventions targeting persistent gender disparities in child inputs and outcomes worldwide. Click here to see the full grant summary.
