Abstract
Objectives
There is growing evidence in China that son preference is on the decline, but the sex ratio at birth is still the highest in the world at around 120 male births to 100 females. The aim of the study was to explore attitudes towards gender preference among people of reproductive age, to determine the reasons why the sex ratio is persistently high, and to inform policy options.
Methods
We conducted in-depth interviews with 212 individuals who aged from 18 to 39 in rural and urban areas of three provinces: Yunnan, Guizhou and Zhejiang.
Results
We show that while son preference has weakened considerably, it has not disappeared. The sex ratio remains high, because of this small minority of individuals, who still choose sex-selective abortion to ensure male offsprings.
Conclusions
Intensive local policy interventions have been successful in reducing the sex ratio in some areas and these should be disseminated widely. In addition, the law forbidding sex selection should be actively enforced, and the One Child Policy should be relaxed in some areas, to reduce the disproportionately high sex ratio in the second order births.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Central Intelligence Agency (2010) The world factbook. Sexratios. http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook
Chung W, Das Gupta M (2007) The decline of son preference in South Korea: the roles of development and public policy. Popul Dev Rev 33(4):757–783
Corrigall EA, Konrad AM (2007) Gender role attitudes and careers: a longitudinal study. Sex Roles 56(11–12):847–855
Das Gupta M, Jiang ZH, Li BH, Xie ZM, Chung WJ, Bae HO (2003) Why is son preference so persistent in East and South Asia? A cross-country study of China, India and the Republic of Korea. J Dev Studies 40:153–187
Das Gupta M, Chung W, Li S (2009) Evidence for an incipient decline in numbers of girls in China and India. Popul Dev Rev 35(2):401–416
Glaser B, Strauss A (1967) The discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research. Aldine, Chicago
Goodkind D (1996) On substituting sex ratio strategies in east Asia: does prenatal sex selection reduce postnatal discrimination? Popul Dev Rev 22(1):111–125
Gu SZ, Chen L (2005) Urbanization effects and gender preference. Chin J Popul Sci 3:30–37 (in Chinese)
Hesketh T, Zhu WX (2006) Abnormal sex ratios in human populations: Causes and consequences. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 36:13271–13275
Hesketh T, Lu L, Xing ZW (2005) The effect of China’s one-child family policy after 25 years. N Engl J Med 353(11):1171–1176
Huang QY (2008) The report of China’s 10th National Women’s Congress, 31 October, Vice-chairman of National Women’s Congress, Women Union. http://www.acwf.people.com.cn/GB/99058/8266771.html (in Chinese)
Jha P, Kumar R, Vasa P, Dhingra N, Thirichelvam D, Moineddan R (2006) Low male-to-female sex ratio of children born in India: national survey of 1.1 million households. Lancet 367:211–218
Li Y (2000) Women’s movement and change of women’s status in China. J Int Womens Studies 1:1–20
Li SZ, Yan SH (2008) A special study on the “Care for Girls” campaign. Popul Family Planning 10:23–24 (in Chinese)
Lin T (2009) The decline of son preference, rise of gender indifference in Taiwan since 1990. Demogr Res 20(16):377–402
Luo WX, Li JX (2007) Women status and fertility decision. Market Demogr Anal 7:246–254 (in Chinese)
Mo LX (2005) The fertility desire situation of rural residents in China. Popul Res 29(2):62–68
National Bureau of Statistics of China (2009) http://www.stats.gov.vn
Park CB, Cho NH (1995) Consequences of son preference in a low-fertility society: imbalance of the SRB in Korea. Popul Dev Rev 21(1):59–84
Qu JD, Hesketh T (2006) Family size, sex ratio and fertility preferences in the era of the one child policy: results from the national family planning and reproductive health survey. BMJ 333:371–373
Sen A (2003) Missing women—revisited. BMJ 327:1297–1298
Sjostrom O, Holst D (2002) Validity of a questionnaire survey: response patterns in different subgroups and the effect of social desirability. Acta Odontol Scand 60:136–140
Zeng LM (2010) The 2009 sex ratio at birth is 119.45 in the mainland of China, the first drop in recent years. China News, 3 June, viewed 3 June 2010, http://www.chinanews.com.cn/gn/news/2010/06-03/2321111. (in Chinese)
Zhu WX, Li L, Hesketh T (2009) China’s excess males, sex selective abortion, and one child policy: analysis of data from 2005 national intercensus survey. Br Med J 338:1211–1220
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhou, C., Wang, X.L., Zhou, X.D. et al. Son preference and sex-selective abortion in China: informing policy options. Int J Public Health 57, 459–465 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-011-0267-3
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-011-0267-3