Parity progression in Australia: What role does sex of existing children play?

In countries with low fertility regimes, researchers are focusing on what factors influence higher levels of parity and parity progression. This paper examines the impact of sex of existing children on parity progression in Australia. There are two dominant theoretical propositions about the effect of sex of existing children. Firstly, sex of existing children is more important in low-fertility societies than under high-fertility regimes in explaining parity progression, while secondly that sex of existing children is less important in societies with an egalitarian gender system. We model what effect sex of existing children has on progressing to a second and third child by analysing data from a nationally representative survey from Australia (Negotiating the Life Course), and consider the two theoretical positions. Other factors considered include continuity of relationship, educational background and religiosity. We find that sex of children has some impact on explaining parity progression in Australia, particularly for recent cohorts of childbearing women, but suggest that qualitative research would be useful in understanding why parents want both sons and daughters in Australia.