scholarly journals IS THERE SON PREFERENCE IN INDIA? - AN ANALYSIS BASED ON SEX RATIO AT BIRTH AND ORDER OF BIRTH

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
Zabeena Hameed. P

Based on NFHS data, the paper observes that females are significantly under-represented among the births in India. NFHS reports provide strong evidence of decline in sex ratios of the population aged 0-6 and in the Sex Ratio at Birth for births in the five years preceding the survey. Against the normal expectation that the sex of the first child is less likely to be controlled, NFHS provides strong evidence that, the Sex Ratio at Birth for first-born children has been below normal in all its surveys and has been declining steadily, except for NFHS-4, where it registered a marginal improvement. Also, the Sex Ratio at Birth for births at order two is substantially lower than at order one and at any other birth order, revealing strong son preference. The Sex Ratio at Birth for births at order three is also lower than the Sex Ratio at Birth for all births except births of order two, suggesting that substantial proportions of couples with two or three children stop having more children only if their last birth is a boy. Modern science and technology have been widely misused to determine the sex of unborn children and this has ended up in terminating unwanted and burdensome pregnancies. Myopia of individuals and authorities culminated in 'gendercide'. Prosperity effect, breadwinner desire, old age security and religious rights and powers, and a host of other factors ended up in the masculinization of India's population

2015 ◽  
Vol 222 ◽  
pp. 295-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charis Loh ◽  
Elizabeth J. Remick

AbstractThe media and generalist scholarly work have created a conventional wisdom that China's one-child policy is the driver of the country's skewed sex ratio and so should be relaxed in order to ameliorate the imbalance. However, we show through historical, domestic and international comparisons that son preference, which we treat as an observable and measurable variable made up of labour, ritual, inheritance and old-age security practices and policies, is crucial to explaining the imbalanced sex ratio at birth. China's sex ratio cannot fully normalize without addressing son preference.


1997 ◽  
Vol 44 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 55-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dudley L. Poston ◽  
Baochang Gu ◽  
Peihang Peggy Liu ◽  
Terra McDaniel

2000 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nan Li ◽  
Marcus W. Feldman ◽  
Shripad Tuljapurkar

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 229-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
U D Chhetri ◽  
I Ansari ◽  
S Bhandary ◽  
N Adhikari

Background High sex ratios at birth (SRB) are seen in China, Taiwan, South Korea, parts of India and Vietnam. The imbalance is the result of son preference, accentuated by declining fertility. Prenatal sex determination and female feticides are common in many countries. It is reflected in sex ratio Objective To determine reasons for the preferences for different sex; to find out whether there is altered sex ratio at birth and to find out whether female feticide are common among women who had abortion. Method It is a prospective study. Women who had previous history of abortion and had delivered at Patan Hospital in the year 2066 were interviewed as per questionnaires. Results Among 560 women with total live births of 965, (462 male and 503 female) during their life time the overall sex ratio was 92 male per 100 female birth; total abortions were 663. Preferences for male were 10%, female 15.4% and either was for 74%. The reason for male preference was to continue family lineage, to bring honor, old age security, and performing funeral rites while the reasons for daughter preferences were that they understand mother’s pain, help in household work. The sex ratio of the babies born during the study period was 113 male per 100 female births. The Sex ratio at birth from 1st to 6th deliveries was 61, 79, 101, 210, 286 and 1100 male per 100 female birth respectively. Prenatal sex selection was 8% (by USG) but none had sex selected abortion. ConclusionSex ratio of those delivered during the study period was skewed (136 boys per 100 girls) towards male. There was shift in SRB in 4th and subsequent pregnancies in favor of boys. As the male sex ratio increased the number of induced abortion decreased in subsequent pregnancies.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/kumj.v9i4.6334 Kathmandu Univ Med J 2011;9(4):229-232 


2008 ◽  
Vol 98 (5) ◽  
pp. 2259-2273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming-Jen Lin ◽  
Ming-Ching Luoh

The “missing women” phenomenon in many Asian countries has previously been regarded as the result of son preference. However, some studies have argued half of the missing women can be explained by infection with Hepatitis B virus (HBV). We demonstrate that the probability of having a male birth is only slightly higher for HBV mothers than for mothers without HBV. The sex ratio at birth rises for the higher birth order and that in families where the first two children are female. Our findings suggest that HBV status has little impact on the missing women phenomenon. (JEL I12, J16)


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Anukriti

Can financial incentives resolve the fertility-sex ratio trade-off faced by countries with persistent son preference and easy access to sex-selection technology? An Indian program, Devi Rupak, that seeks to lower fertility and the sex ratio is unable to do so. Although fertility decreases, the sex ratio at birth worsens as high son preference families are unwilling to forgo a son despite substantially higher benefits for a daughter. Thus, financial incentives may only play a limited role in the resolution of the fertility-sex ratio conflict. (JEL I38, J13, J16, J18, O15)


2016 ◽  
pp. 50-55
Author(s):  
Hoang Lan Nguyen ◽  
Dinh Nhan Phan

Objective: To define sex ratio at birth and to identify factors affecting son preference of couples at study area. Material and Method: This was a cross sectional study. Primary data was collected by directly interviewing 620 mothers who have baby from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014 on the basis of a structured questionnaire. Secondary data was received from documents recording number of babies who were born and still live in the study setting during the study time. Multiple logistic regression model was used to identify factors influencing son preference of the couples. Results: The sex ratio at birth in Hiep Duc district was 113.3/100. Factors affecting son preference of the couple were residence place (OR=2.91; 95% CI: 1.137.52); economic situation of household (OR=2.64; 95% CI: 1.23-5.66) and community pressure (OR=2.18; 95% CI: 1.15-4.12). Conclusion: There is the imbalance of sex ratio at birth in Hiep Duc district in 2014. It should be strengthened the propaganda and advocacy in the community to raise the awareness on gender equality and integrate this content into the local socio-economic development plan. Key words: sex ratio at birth, the imbalance of sex ration at birth, Quang Nam


2015 ◽  
Vol 105 (5) ◽  
pp. 638-643 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor Jawon Choi ◽  
Jisoo Hwang

Sex ratio at birth remains highly skewed in Asian countries due to son preference. In South Korea, however, it has declined to the natural ratio. In this paper, we investigate whether son preference has disappeared in Korea by analyzing parents' time and monetary inputs by the sex of their child. We exploit randomness of the first child's sex to overcome potential bias from endogenous fertility decisions. Our findings show that mothers are more likely to work after having a girl, girls spend twice as much time as boys in housework activities, and parents spend more on private education for boys.


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