The electronic version of the Asia-Pacific Population Journal is being made available by the ESCAP Population Division and the Population Information Network (POPIN) of the United Nations Population Division/DESIPA, with the funding from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Abstracts
Articles
Sex Preference in South Asia: Sri Lanka an Outlier
State intervention in providing quality primary education and health care would enable parents to attach a higher value to the education and health of their children irrespective of sex.
By A.T.P.L. Abeykoon
Sex Ratio at Birth in China, with Reference to Other Areas in East Asia: What We Know
Society-wide efforts are needed to emphasize the value of girls and women, and to promote true equality of the sexes.
By Baochang Gu and Krishna Roy
Sex Preference for Children in Thailand and Some Other South-East Asian Countries
Some countries in this subregion show a preference for both boys and girls, or no sex bias at all.
By Kua Wongboonsin and Vipan Prachuabmoh Ruffolo
Demographers' Notebook
Extracts from the ICPD Programme of Action
Sex Preference in South Asia: Sri Lanka an Outlier
This article focuses on the situation regarding sex preference for sons in four South Asian countries: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, which account for a combined population of about 1.2 billion. It finds that in South Asia, with the exception of Sri Lanka where there is generally no preference for boys, sex preference is mainly manifested post-natally in the form of excessive mortality of female children as a result of discrimination against females in the allocation of food and health care in the household. It concludes by drawing out implications for policy.
Sex Ratio at Birth in China, with Reference to Other Areas in East Asia: What We Know
Although this article focuses mainly on China, which alone accounts for 1.2 billion people, it also refers to the situation regarding sex preference for children in Taiwan Province of China and the Republic of Korea. In assessing the current situation regarding abnormal sex ratios at birth, the article discusses when, where, among whom, how and why it occurs as well as what can be done about it. Noting that the pattern shows pre-natal preference through the abortion of female fetuses, the article brings out several implications for both policy and programme.
Sex Preference for Children in Thailand and Some Other South-East Asian Countries
The results of this analysis of South-East Asian countries with a combined population of 482 million shows a mixed pattern: preference for sons in some countries, and either no preference or what is called and "egalitarian" gender preference, where one boy and one girl are preferred, in other coutries. It suggests the use of the Coomb's scale as a helpful measure for determining preference for both number and gender composition of children. The article also brings out implications of the research for policy purposes.
Throughout the world, it is normal for women to give birth to more male than female children, although the excess of boys is quite small, i.e. in the range of 104 to 107 boys for every 100 girls born. Known as the sex ratio at birth, this excess subsequently declines over time owing to generally higher mortality among males.
For several countries in Asia, however, this pattern does not hold true. In societies where there is a preference for male children, the sex ratios at birth are higher than normal, which may be a result of the following: underreporting of female births; higher female mortality rates as a result of poor treatment, or even infanticide; and abortion of female fetuses.
In response to the concern about the growing trend towards abnormal sex ratios at birth in some countries of the ESCAP region expressed by readers and by participants at regional meetings organized by the secretariat, we are devoting this issue of the Asia-Pacific Population Journal to the theme of sex ratios at birth.
In order to provide our readers with more data and information on this topic, we are publishing a general overview of the current situation in three subregions of ESCAP: namely, South Asia, East Asia, and South-East Asia. We are sincerely grateful to the authors who contributed articles to make this possible. In this context, we should also like to express our gratitude to the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA) which in December 1991 co-sponsored with ESCAP the Seminar on Impact of Fertility Decline on Population Policies and Programme Strategies: Emerging Trends for the 21st Century, and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which together with KIHASA co-sponsored the International Symposium on Issues Related to Sex Preference for Children in the Rapidly Changing Demographic Dynamics in Asia. Many of the data used in the studies included in this issue of the Journal are drawn from the latter meeting, which was also held at Seoul in November 1994.
The first article on sex preference in South Asia examines the situation in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It finds that, although pre-natal gender tests are carried out with subsequent illegal abortion of female fetuses, sex preference is manifested mainly in the form of excessive mortality of female children. By contrast to the situation in the three other societies, Sri Lanka is found not to have a sex preference for children of a certain sex.
The second article on what is known about the sex ratio at birth in China also refers to the situation in Taiwan Province of China and the Republic of Korea. It finds that the underreporting of births and sex-selective induced abortion after pre-natal determination of the sex of the fetus are mainly responsible for the increase in the sex ratio at birth in these societies. Also, the rise seems to be connected with the rapidity of the fertility decline in the three populations which traditionally prefer sons.
The third article deals, in lesser or greater detail, with the situation in the South-East Asian countries of Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore and Viet Nam, but especially Thailand. It finds that this subregion is not homogenous: in general, there are two major patterns of sex preference for children, namely, the preference-for-sons pattern, and the pattern of an egalitarian gender preference.
Since all the articles bring out the implications of the studies for policy and programme purposes, we hope that they will comprise a useful reference for the policy makers, decision makers and programme administrators for whom this special issue is intended. It is they who are in a position to take the measures necessary to improve the situation for girls and women in society so that parents will not feel that they must have boys, especially in the context of the fewer children that modern couples plan to have. The studies show that development efforts must improve the role and status of women, or else economic and cultural forces are likely not only to continue the existence of son preference but also to exacerbate it.
Nibhon Debavalya
Director
Population Division
For further information on this material please contact: loftus.unescap@un.org