Behind the Numbers: The PRB blog on population, health, and the environment

by Karin Ringheim, senior policy adviser, International Programs

Nature provides a nearly equal distribution of male and female children at birth – about 105 boys for every 100 girls. A high sex ratio at birth (108 boys to 100 girls or higher), such as in China, Taiwan, South Korea and parts of India and Vietnam, provides strong evidence that nature is being overridden by a preference in these societies for male children. The imbalance in the sex ratio that results from son preference is accentuated as fertility declines: The fewer children women have, the more pressure there is in some cultures for them to have at least one son. China’s “One-Child” policy, for example, precipitated its rising and imbalanced sex ratio.

Prenatal sex detection with ultrasound followed by abortion of female fetuses is now a common practice in countries where sons are preferred. Prohibiting the use of ultrasound for this purpose has proven difficult to enforce. South Korea has long prohibited the practice, but sex selective abortion continues. While South Korea’s sex ratio has fallen from a high of 116 boys to every 100 girls in 1990, it remains above the normal range. The persistence of sex selection despite legal sanctions points to the need to address the cultural factors that drive son preference, especially undervaluation of girls by their parents and their societies.

The status of girls within the household rises as they are educated and better able to contribute to the economic well-being of their families. However, girls in most developing countries are caught in a trap: they have less opportunity for schooling and job training than boys, which perpetuates their low economic and social status. Parents do not see the connection between denying their daughters access to education and mourning the birth of another daughter, or aborting her because she will be economically burdensome.

Societies will ultimately pay a price for son preference, which will have long-term repercussions for the workforce, marriage markets, and the status of women in these societies. But whether those consequences ultimately benefit women by rendering them more valuable remains doubtful. The relatively rarity of women in male-dominated societies may also lead to greater oppression of women. (Think of forced reproduction in the Handmaid’s Tale!) Programs and policies that highlight the value of the girl child and the necessity of investing in girls’ futures are important, both in rapidly expanding Asian economies where son preference is in evidence, and in sub-Saharan Africa and other countries where a preference for sons is not evidenced by sex selective abortion, but through economic and social deprivation. If the inherent value of girls is not yet apparent to their parents, at least girls must be given a chance to prove their worth.

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