This article examines the socio-economic reasons for the steep decline in child sex ratios, as revealed by the 2001 census. It questions existing arguments in the light of new fieldwork in several states in North India. It argues that we have to unpack ‘son preference’ in the modern context to understand why parents continue to prefer boys over girls in many parts of North and North-West India, and especially so in urban areas. Although there is some narrowing of the gender gap (as seen in education, health and work force participation indicators), girls remain undervalued when it comes to intergenerational transfers. The article argues that the changing interrelationships between education, work, marriage and family status in some senses reinforce the perceived need for sons as the source of a family's future stability and parental support. Given these expectations, insecurities around the material and social success of sons, and largely unchanging or even enhanced marriage and dowry expenditure for girls, drive parents to invest more in sons and propel family- building strategies with few or no girls.
