The ethnographic data indicate that the main ethnic groups in the South Caucasus (Armenian, Azeri, Georgian) had similarly rigidly patrilineal kinship systems. The ethnographic data, at least in the English language, are limited. However, they clearly document that daughters were transferred to the husband’s families at the time of marriage and that mutual cooperation and support was among kin related through the male line. See, for example Ishkanian (2003) and Matossian (1962) on Armenian family systems, Heyat (2002) on Azeri family systems, and Dragadze (1988) on Georgian family systems.

Despite decades of vigorous Soviet effort to instill gender equality (Section 2.2), changes were slow at the deepest levels of kinship. Matossian (1962:187) notes that by 1960 it was no longer considered acceptable to express condolence when a baby girl was born. Studies in Azerbaijan argue that the Soviet policy was to revolutionize women’s position in public life but to intervene less in domestic life, so the latter continued to be governed by the old mores (Heyat 2000; Tohidi 2000). Figure 3 and the qualitative studies below suggest that the USSR may have had this policy across the South Caucasus of bringing women into the public sphere while intervening less in the private sphere.

Recent qualitative studies across the region describe persistence in rigidly patrilineal mores (Dudwick 2015; Guilmoto 2014; and Yüksel-Kaptanoğlu et al 2014). They note the continued tradition in the late Soviet period of wanting a son; of viewing girls as useless because they leave home at marriage; of feeling it shameful to be looked after by a daughter; of the intense shame of a man who lives with his wife’s family; and other norms deeply familiar from ethnographies of the other parts of Asia with strong son preference. These views are still reported by many today, but others express less interest in having a son and note that daughters-in-law are becoming less subservient while daughters are staying more in touch with their parents, especially if the son(s) have gone elsewhere to work.

**_2.2 Transformations under the USSR: Urbanization and women’s participation in public life_**

The region was radically transformed under the USSR, from largely peasant societies in which women worked for their husband’s family to more urbanized societies with considerable gender equality in public life.

The region has been quite urbanized for decades. Already by 1960 just over half the population of Armenia and Azerbaijan and 43% of that in Georgia was estimated to live in urban areas, and by 1990 this applied to two-thirds of the population of Armenia and over half the population of Azerbaijan and Georgia. During the Soviet period, urbanization was not far behind that of Southern Europe, and far ahead of China, which is the only country with higher levels of sexselection than this region (Table 2).

Urbanization and industrialization shake up peasant family systems, by creating conditions where people work and live in the impersonal settings of urban areas and are less subject to the constant pressure of their kinsmen to have sons to continue the family line (Chung and Das Gupta 1997). They are more exposed to new ideas and norms. Besides, since their sons may well move to work in another city, the chances are more equal that sons or daughters will live near them in their old age. The new structure of employment also offers people more opportunity to save for their own old age. Pension plans offer financial support in old age, 4