How do girls and boys in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) in the
majority world vary with respect to central indicators of child growth
and mortality, parental caregiving, discipline and violence, and child
labor? How do key indicators of national gender equity and economic
development relate to gender similarities and differences in each of
these substantive areas of child development? This monograph of the SRCD
is concerned with central topics of child gender, gendered parenting,
gendered environments, and gendered behaviors and socializing practices
in the underresearched and underserved world of LMIC. To examine
protective and risk factors related to child gender in LMIC around the
world, we used data from more than 2 million individuals in 400,000
families in 41 LMIC collected in the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey,
a household survey that includes nationally representative samples of
participating countries. In the fi rst chapter of this monograph, we
describe the conceptual "gender similarities" and "bioecological"
frameworks that helped guide the monograph. In the second chapter, we
detail the general methodology adhered to in the substantive chapters.
Then, in topical chapters, we describe the situations of girls and boys
with successive foci on child growth and mortality, parental caregiving,
family discipline and violence, and child labor. We conclude with a
general discussion of fi ndings from the substantive chapters in the
context of gender and bioecological theories.
Across 41 LMIC and four substantive areas of child development, few
major gender differences emerged. Our data support a gender similarities
view and suggest that general emphases on early child gender differences
may be overstated at least for the developing world of LMIC.
