With global life expectancy now at age 68 for men and 73 for women, it’s more likely than ever that your children will have to support you in old age. But will it be your son or your daughter who steps up to take responsibility?

The answer may surprise you. Sons are not only less likely to support elderly parents, but are actually more likely to depend on them for financial support, making daughters the favoured gender. This trend is spreading to some of the world’s most patriarchal societies, including some in East Asia, where the greatest gender imbalance exists.

What’s your take on daughters versus sons?

Daughters are better financial investments than sons, according to recent data. Is there a cultural basis in these results, predicated on gender preference? Or is this a rising global trend?

For the past 40 years, US couples have consistently favoured sons over daughters.

American men favoured sons. Women, however, voted equally for both genders.

East Asian couples, who traditionally favoured sons, are now showing a preference for daughters.

In the past decade, the ratio of Chinese boys to girls born dropped from 12:10 to 11:10.

In 1999, 75% of Japanese couples said they hoped for a daughter.

In 2011, 66% of South Korean couples wanted a daughter.

Globally, it is believed that daughters are more likely to provide for their elderly parents. In the US, men are...

2x more likely to not provide emotional support;

3x more likely to live their parents out of financial necessity;

2x more likely to receive financial aid from their parents.

In China, where one of the world’s largest gender gaps exists, women provide more financial support than men.

In part due to cultural norms, Chinese women have higher rates of living with their parents than men. Those that do also offer greater financial support to their parents.

参考中文：
随着全球寿命境况正迈向男人68岁，女人73岁的年龄段，在你垂垂老去时，你的孩子将比以往任何时候承担起晚年照顾你的重任。但是会是你的儿子还是女儿承担起这份责任呢？

答案可能会令你震惊，儿子不仅不太可能照顾年迈的父母，而且实际上还会更“觊觎”着依赖父母的财政支持，这使得女儿更能受到父母的青睐。当下，这一趋势正逐渐向世界包括东亚在内的其他父权制社会国家蔓延，而这些国家正是性别失衡现象严重发生的地区。

那么，在这场“生女还是生子”之争中，你更倾向于何种观点？

根据近来的数据显示，女儿在财务投资方面比儿子更为优越。基于性别偏好这一现象，该问题是否存在文化依据呢？抑或是这只是一个日益浮现的全球趋势？

在过去的40年中，美国夫妇们喜欢儿子更胜过女儿。

美国男性更喜欢儿子，然而美国女性却对男女孩持平等态度。

传统上重男轻女的东亚国家夫妇们却日渐显示出对女儿的偏爱。

在过去的十年中，中国男女孩出生比例从12比10降至11比10。

在1999年，75%的日本夫妇便希望自己有一个女儿。

在2011年，66%的韩国夫妇均表示期望能育有女儿。

从全球来看，人们普遍认为女儿能够向年迈的父母提供生活帮助和支持。在美国，男人们普遍会这样——

2倍多的可能性——不太可能提供感情上的安慰

3倍多的可能性——出于经济需要与父母居住在一起

2倍多的可能性——从父母那里获得经济支持

在世界上性别差异最大的中国，女性向父母提供的经济支持比男性更多。

由于受到风俗的影响，中国女性与父母生活在一起的比例远高于男性。这也就意味着她们能向父母提供更多的经济支持。