Socioeconomic status determines sex-dependent survival of human offspring.

ABSTRACT:

Background and objectives

In polygynous societies, rich men have many offspring through the marriage of multiple wives. Evolutionary, rich households would therefore benefit more from sons, and according to the Trivers-Willard hypothesis, parents invest more in offspring of the sex that has the best reproductive prospects. We determined the sex differences in number of offspring, sex ratio of offspring, offspring survival and offspring weight in rich and poor households in a polygynous population.

Methodology

We studied a population of 28 994 individuals in Northern Ghana during an 8-year prospective follow-up. We determined the fertility rate for both men and women, sex ratio of 3511 newborn offspring and offspring survival in 16 632 offspring up to reproductive age (≤18 ye

SUBMITTER: van Bodegom D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3868360 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature