Americans Prefer Boys, Says Gallup Poll

“I don’t care what it is, as long as it’s healthy” may be a sentiment that’s out of fashion – a new Gallup poll shows that more Americans, if placed under a one-child restriction, would want their child to be a boy.

While this may seem like shocking news, the trend has actually been around for 40 years. In 1941, poll results showed a 38 percent to 24 percent preference ratio of girls to boys, and in 2011, the results margin is only slightly higher at 40 percent to 28 percent.

If you look at the numbers a little deeper, the statistics show that males who answered the poll had a greater preference for having a son over a daughter, at 49 percent to 22 percent, while in women the margin was narrower at 33 percent to 31 percent.

Age seemed to be a factor as well: those in the 18-29 age group elected a boy 54 percent of the time while 27 percent elected a girl, with the margin narrowing as age goes up. Other factors, such as education and political preference, were also examined.

The stereotype of the preference for male children is most strongly associated with Asians, and is also linked to India and other places where a class system, a dowry system and the need for physical labourers is present.

While it’s difficult to explain why the trend would spill over into America, where those factors are less at play, the medical community isn’t turning a blind eye to the results. With advancements in in vitro fertilization and the ability to identify gender at the early stages of pregnancy, they’re concerned that sex selection could lead to a serious balance issue in population numbers, which can impact society in ways we may not have yet considered.