How does son preference affect populations in Asia?
Date
2007
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Honolulu: East-West Center
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Abstract
The preference for sons has deep
social, economic, and cultural roots in many East and South Asian
societies. Historically, son preference has resulted in unusually high
death rates for female infants and girls. Over the past 30 years, the
introduction of prenatal screening technologies combined with
widespread access to abortion has made possible the selective abortion
of female fetuses. Resulting gender imbalances have led to concerns
that a shortage of women will make it difficult for men to find wives.
The Chinese, Indian, and South Korean governments have responded by
making prenatal screening for sex identification illegal. China and
India have also launched campaigns to improve attitudes toward girl
children, and both countries offer small allowances to some parents of
girls. Experience in South Korea indicates that sex-selective abortion
peaks and then declines with social and economic modernization.
Population projections and survey data suggest that falling fertility
and women's reluctance to marry have a much larger effect than
sex-selective abortion on the availability of women in the marriage
market.
Additional titles in the AsiaPacific Issues series
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For more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/
Keywords
Sex of children, Parental preferences for - Asia, Sex preselection, Sex ratio
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12 pages
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