Population Reference Bureau Population Bulletin Vol. Fertility Box 3. Son Preference in India Gender and gender inequality are reflected in demographic processes to varying degrees, and in different ways. In many societies, the children women produce are an important source of power.
Fertility is likely to decline.
How these processes are linked differs from society to society and can change over time. Researchers are still exploring the nature of these links, but existing evidence suggests that the way that gender is organized in a society may influence the timing and pace of fertility and mortality change. Certain elements of gender equality seem to be especially important in facilitating such change. In the case of mortality, a woman's position in the family or in the larger society will influence her access to health knowledge and technology that might influence her family's exposure to illness, or once ill, her use of health interventions. The extraordinary increases in living standards and health care that occurred throughout much of the world in the past four decades brought greater improvements in life expectancy to women than to men.