In India many believes that a male child would carry forward the family name and look after the parents in their old age. A new Indian government survey shows that there have been improvements in the country's sex ratio, but an overwhelming majority still desire a male child.

Nearly 80% of those surveyed said they wanted at least one son in their lifetime, according to the latest figures from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), the household survey of Indian society by the government.

This preference for sons over daughters - described as "son preference" - is rooted in the traditional belief that a male child would carry forward the family name and look after the parents in their old age, while daughters would leave them for heir matrimonial homes and cost them dowries.

Over 100 years, the census has shown that there have been more men in India than women. According to the last census in 2011, there were 940 women for every 1,000 men and the child sex ratio was at 918 girls for 1,000 boys.

The NFHS-5 survey, done between 2019 and 2021, shows improvement in the sex ratio from previous years - for the first time, it says, there are more females than males in India.

But the data suggests that the historical preference for boys remains. Over 15% people - 16% men and 14% women - told the surveyors that they wanted more sons than daughters. It's an improvement from 2015-16 (NFHS-4) when 18.5% women and 19% men wanted more sons, but many couples continue to keep having daughters in the hope of having a boy.