Sex Ratio In India Research Articles

Review Based Study on Declining Child Sex Ratio in India – A Matter of Great Concern.

Sex ratio at birth is defined as the number of female births per 1000 male birth. Declining Child Sex Ratio causes imbalances in child population and expected to have serious socio-demographic consequences, further reinforcing the subordination of girls and women. The issue, therefore, requires a multi-faceted response to enhance the value of girls by change in negative perceptions on girl child as well as legal measures to curb misuse of medical technology.

Patrilocality and Child Sex Ratios in India

Patrilocality and Child Sex Ratios in India

Analysis of the Skewed Sex Ratio and Female Foeticide in India

The present study is aimed at drawing attention and concern of the readers towards nefarious female foeticide problem in India. Female Foeticide is the death sentence to a girl even before her birth. The objectives of the study are met by analysing the problem of female foeticide by studying skewed sex ratio and child sex ratio in India and its states. The primary causes of female foeticide are addressed along with its adverse consequences on society. Study on the status of sex ratio in countries of world lists India at 4rth rank in most skewed sex ratio. Although sex ratio has improved recently yet child sex ratio is still the worst in India. The Northern Indian states & union territories have lowest sex ratio. The rural areas with less literacy have more sex ratio than urban areas with higher literacy. Indian government has taken many initiatives to promote girl child birth and enacted a number of laws to curb female foeticide, yet the immoral female foeticide is still in practice. Present study also suggests some measures to prevent this malpractice and hence empower the Women.

Profile of child sex ratio in India: A geographical analysis

Profile of child sex ratio in India: A geographical analysis

Knowledge and perspectives of registered gynecologists about gender determination in relation to abortion laws – Exploratory questionnaire based study in central India

India is one of the few countries to legalize abortion since 1971. However, legalizing abortion has not translated into safe and affordable services. The birth sex ratio in India has been declining since the 1901. Despite the attempts by government to monitor radiologists and genetic laboratories, the Census of India 2011reported a dip in the child sex ratio in states like Maharashtra between 2001 and 2011.The present study was conducted as a cross-sectional questionnaire based study in clinics of participating doctors in a district in tribal region of central India. With the help of pre-validated questionnaire the knowledge and perception of registered gynaecologists were noted regarding the recent abortion laws.72% respondents were aware of the recent amendments in abortion laws but surprisingly only 54% participants have successfully enumerated them and 28% participants were unaware of the recent amendments in the Act.Only 24% participants said that amendments in MTP act was very good but still 12% doctors believed that there is a scope for further amendments.According to 64% participants the PCPNDT Act is acceptable but 12% said record keeping is very difficult and 6% felt that it needs lots of amendments.Majority of the respondents were aware about the MTP & PCPNDT Acts, surprisingly only 54% participants have successfully enumerated them. According to only 24% participants recent amendments was good, According to 12% they were necessary but still 12% believed that there is a scope for further amendments.

Patrilocality and Child Sex Ratios in India

Patrilocality and Child Sex Ratios in India

Missing women in India: Gender-specific effects of early-life rainfall shocks

• The sex ratio in India remains heavily skewed toward men, despite economic growth and other changes over the past decades. • We examine the impact of rainfall shocks around the birth-year on female mortality, using district-level data on cohorts. • We find higher mortality for women from both positive and negative rainfall shocks, especially in places favoring male more. • This accounts for 3.01% of the total estimate of 38.46 million missing women in India (averaged over 1990, 2000 and 2010). • Our results suggest the need to target girls in disaster relief efforts, especially in areas with greater male preference. We link over a century of monthly precipitation data (1911–2011) to the population by gender and age at the district level in the 1991, 2001, and 2011 Indian censuses to study how early-life (around birth year) rainfall shocks affect cohorts’ population sex ratios. Using an approach (from Bhalme and Mooley 1980) that generates separate indices for excess (wet) as well as negative (dry) rainfall shocks and adjusts for the level of persistence in monthly shocks, we find that both too much and too little rainfall are associated with lower relative female population. The results are robust to using alternative rainfall shock indices and different sets of fixed effects. We estimate about 1.156 million missing women due to differential effects of early-life rainfall shocks, which is about 3.01% of the total estimate of 38.46 million missing women (average over 1990, 2000 and 2010) from Bongaarts and Guilmoto (2015). Our results suggest the need for targeting aid for weather shocks towards girls, especially in regions with indicators suggesting stronger male preference.

Skewed child sex ratios in India: a revisit to geographical patterns and socio-economic correlates

This study revisits the regional and socio-economic pattern of masculinisation of Child Sex Ratios (CSR), Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) and Sex Ratio at Last Birth (SRLB) by using successive rounds of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS). Although the masculinisation of CSR continues in many Indian states as well as in different socio-economic settings, a tremendous change in previously established patterns of CSR can be observed from the findings. District-level analysis presents intra-state variation in CSR, SRB and SRLB, which helps in identifying the emerging ‘hotspots’ of the problem. The decline in preference for a son and rise in skewed CSR, SRB and SRLB invites the attention of researchers towards drawbacks in the method of measurement of preference for a son as people are now more aware of the legal consequences of sex-selective abortions and underreport the same.

Protecting girls from droughts with social safety nets

This paper revisits the relationship between agricultural productivity shocks and the infant sex ratio in India and investigates how this relationship changes when households have access to government-provided employment opportunities outside of agriculture. When a household’s preference for sons coincides with adverse agricultural productivity shocks, previous research shows that households tend to disproportionately reduce investments (prenatal and postnatal) in their female children. This behavior leads to a relatively more balanced sex ratio in good rainfall years and a more skewed sex ratio (in favor of boys) in low rainfall years. In a deviation from past work, we find evidence of this effect primarily through prenatal channels in modern India. More importantly, we show that a workfare program that decouples both wages and consumption from rainfall attenuates the relationship between rainfall and the infant sex ratio. Using a back-of-the-envelope calculation, we find that the program could have saved at least 0.7 million girls – relative to boys – if the government had implemented it from 2001 to 2005. Suggestive evidence also indicates that the program may have attenuated the positive effect of birth year productivity shocks on girls’ longer-term height-for-age.

Perceptions of married women about reasons and suggested solutions regarding gender preferences for offspring in Katputli Nagar, Jaipur

Background: In India, the preference for a son is strong. Due to many reasons in various communities, the strong desire for a son and discrimination against a female child are causing the non-preference of female children, resulting in a skewed sex ratio in India. The main objective of the study was to assess the perception of urban slum married women in the reproductive age group about reasons and solutions to overcome gender preference. Materials and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study on 1230 married women of urban slums of age group 15–49 years was carried out in Katputli Nagar in Rajasthan state, India. Information regarding reasons and solutions to overcome gender preference was asked. A predesigned semi-structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Results: Out of the 1230 study subjects, the majority reason for the male preference was “propagation of family name” (53.3%), followed by “family safety” (46.5%) and “funeral responsibility” (44.8%), “financial help in future” (39.2%) and “old age support” (40.2%). “Family name spoilage if remaining unmarried” and “female offspring will not stay with them after marriage” were the most preferred reasons for female non-preference (59.8% and 58.3%), respectively, and “dowry” in 56.4%. Strict implementation of anti-dowry law and better implementation of educational aids for girl child might be strong changes (69.83% and 69.18%, respectively), followed by “improvement in the security of females” (61.95%). Conclusion: Propagation of family names was an important reason for the preference for males. Strict implementation of anti-dowry law and better implementation of educational aid for female children might be strong changes that could remove gender discrimination in society.

Does the prenatal factor or the postnatal factor contribute more to changes in the child sex ratio in India? An investigation in the context of fertility and mortality transition.

There has been a drastic decline in the child sex ratio (number of females per 1000 males between ages 0 and 4) in India and many of its states. This study aimed to examine if prenatal factors, such as change in sex ratio at birth, or postnatal factors, such as change in relative mortality of females and males, contribute to this more by analysing the dynamics of the child sex ratio. Changes in the child sex ratio during 2001-2011 were decomposed into a 'fertility' component attributable to prenatal sex selection and a 'mortality' component attributable to sex differentials in postnatal survival at the country as well as the state level. Between the prenatal factor and the postnatal factor, the contribution of the latter to the declining child sex ratio has been greater than the former in India as a whole and in most of the states. By focusing on both prenatal and postnatal factors, the imbalance in the child sex ratio in the country can be reduced to a large extent.

A Tax Policy to Address Overpopulation While Balancing the Sex Ratio in India

In response to the limited success, 600 cases filed with 20 convictions over 15 years, of the The Pre-conception And Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition Of Sex Selection) Act, 1994 (PNDT), we propose a Pigovian tax structure that can, perhaps, balance the sex ratio while addressing overpopulation and providing direly needed funding for initiatives. To address overpopulation, the government can introduce an income tax increasing with the number of children -- e.g. 2% for the first child, 4% for the second, etc -- reflecting the increasing marginal costs overpopulation places on public resources. The government can further provide a (e.g. 2%) deduction for girls -- e.g. parents would pay 0% for their first daughter, 2% for the second, etc -- effectively creating a Pigovian tax, transferring the (e.g. 2%) male premium to females. Households with sufficiently low income would receive cash transfers -- e.g. 2% of income for the first (two) daughter(s). We further consider extending the Pigovian tax to a marriage tax on men that will internalize the marginal cost that an excess of males places on the marriage pool. Both the tax deduction and the cash transfer would be conditional on proper annual medical screening, educational participation, etc., effectively making a daughter an annuity incentivizing families to ensure for her safety and well being.

Socio-economic development and child sex ratio in India: revisiting the debate using spatial panel data regression

The paper aims to explore the possible determinants of declining child sex ratio (CSR) in India across 32 state and UTs over time (viz. 1971–2011). The spatial panel data regression results are assumed to be better compared to simple panel because the CSR is very much influenced by space and neighbouring state’ CSR. This is confirmed by both global (and local Moran Index) in one hand and the Hausman test (fixed vs. random effect) on the other hand. The spatial panel regression results show that income and CSR are nonlinear with U-shaped pattern; the other socio-economic variables like female literacy rate, urbanization, poverty and female work participation do not appear to be significant. The state sharing higher concentration of scheduled tribe community positively improve CSR in all the spatial regression models; the opposite happens in case of scheduled caste dominated state. Our spatial panel regression findings contradict earlier findings of the determinants of CSR in case of income and female literacy. The U-shaped relationship between income and CSR does have some policy relevance; income of any state may go up due to various factors. If we argue in the context of female labour force participation, we find that the female work force participation is found to be stagnant, and even in some state it is declining over the decades. Therefore, female employment directly augments female autonomy as well as empowerment, which indirectly increases income and thereby a state may cross that cut-off level of income and may experience higher CSR.

Association between the total fertility rate and under-five child sex ratio in India: a panel study among districts of the major states.

This study examined the relationship between the total fertility rate and under-five child sex ratio to understand the role of fertility in the phenomenon of missing girls in India. Using data from the last four decennial censuses for the fifteen major states of India and their districts, covering more than 90% of the population of India, the study showed that there was a major decline in the female to male child sex ratio from 1981 to 2011 in most of the major Indian states and their districts. The panel regression model showed that the total fertility rate was significantly associated with the under-five child sex ratio at the district level for the 30-year period from 1981 to 2011 in India, even after controlling for other factors and any other unobserved heterogeneity. This indicates that areas of India with the highest fertility had the higher female to male child sex ratio, while low-fertility districts had a more male-biased sex ratio.

Girls for Sale? Child Sex Ratio and Girl Trafficking in India

ABSTRACTIllegal trafficking of girls results from their disadvantageous position in society, often reflected by preference for sons and neglect of daughters. India has both higher levels of illegal trafficking of girls and abnormal child sex ratios in favor of boys. This paper examines if the skewed sex ratio in India is associated with trafficking of girls. Using panel data from twenty-nine Indian states from 1980 to 2011, the study finds that a 100-unit increase in the child sex ratio is associated with a 0.635 percent increase in girl trafficking. Further, the association is heterogeneous by women’s empowerment, crime against women, and party rule in the state, and the association between the child sex ratio and trafficking of girls is stronger and larger in magnitude in states with greater women’s empowerment. Overall, it appears the results are driven both by greater reporting and a greater incidence of illegal girl trafficking.

A Study on Gender Preferences and its Sociocultural aspects among Married Women (18-45years) in Rural Gurugram

INTRODUCTION: Declining sex ratio is a major concern worldwide, especially in a developing country like India. The role of sociocultural factors in gender preference is known since ages. The skewed sex ratio in India is attributed to selective female feticides and misuse of technological advancements. This also has a strong influence on contraceptive acceptance among couples.
 OBJECTIVES: The present study was conducted to explore the contraceptive use, gender preferences and its determinants among married women in rural Gurgaon.
 MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among married women (18-45years) residing in the rural field practice area of SGT medical college and hospital, Gurugram. The sample size was found to be 400. Systematic random sampling technique was used to recruit the study participants. Pre- tested, pre-designed questionnaire was used for data collection.
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Among 400 married women, current contraceptive usage among study population was found to be 58.25%. The most common method of contraception used by the study subjects was intrauterine contraceptive device. The preference for male child was found among 49.5% women. The reasons cited for such preference were propagation of family name (48.2%), financial dependability in the old age (34%), social responsibilities are carried out by males (25.3%) and males are lesser economic liability (31%). Lower age group of mother, nulliparity, Hindu religion, lower educational status and lower socioeconomic status were found to be the determinants of male child preference in the present study.
 CONCLUSION: There is need of awareness and education amongst women and both the genders deserve equal respect without any preferences.

What has contributed to improvements in the child sex ratio in select districts of India? A decomposition of the sex ratio at birth and child mortality

Despite an overall downward trend in child sex ratios in India, some of the most imbalanced districts in 2001 (fewer girls than boys) showed signs of becoming more balanced in 2011. This analysis looked in depth at these districts to better understand the nature of the improvement in the child sex ratio using two rounds of data from the Census of India from 2001 and 2011. Data were used from the 153 districts that showed improvement in their child sex ratio between 2001 and 2011. The improvement was decomposed into: (1) less sex-selective abortion and (2) improved girl compared with boy mortality. Most of the improvement in child sex ratios were shown to be due to reductions in sex-selective abortion, although this still made up the majority of the cause of imbalanced sex ratios in 2011. Child sex ratio improvement has been happening in both rural and urban areas of India, and there is evidence of stagnation in mortality decline for urban girls.

Extremely Detailed Distribution of Child Sex Ratio in India: A Geographical Analysis of 595,496 Census Villages

Geographic variation in sex ratio has been assessed across Indian states/union territories and districts, but not at the local level. For the first time we present the multi-level geographies of child sex ratio (CSR) using the 2011 Census data, with a special focus on villages. Here we show that 96% of the total variation in CSR was attributed to villages. While the predicted CSR for all India was 97.1 girls per 100 boys, it ranged from 28.4 to 165.7 for 95% of the villages. Of the 595,496 villages, 39% were ‘boy’ villages (≤88 girls per 100 boys) and another 12% had deficits in girls (88.1-93.0), while 38% had CSR above the normal range (>98). The magnitude of local variation in CSR was heterogeneous across states and districts. Our findings imply that identifying villages with severely skewed CSR for prioritization and investigating ‘normal’ villages to understand local factors that drive balanced sex ratio can better inform policies and programmes to be designed and implemented with greater precision.

Missing Girls, Income Shocks, and Consumption Smoothing

This paper revisits the relationship between agricultural productivity shocks and the infant sex ratio in India and investigates how this relationship changes when households have access to government-provided employment opportunities outside of agriculture. When a household's preference for sons coincides with adverse agricultural productivity shocks, previous research has shown households tend to disproportionately reduce investments (prenatal and postnatal) in their female children. This behavior leads to a relatively more balanced sex ratio in good rainfall years and a more skewed sex ratio (in favor of boys) in bad rainfall years. We find evidence of both prenatal and postnatal channels in India and show that a workfare program, which decouples both wages and consumption from rainfall, attenuates the relationship between rainfall and the infant sex ratio. Using a back-of-the-envelope calculation and the assumption that females should never significantly outnumber males, the program could have saved around 550 girls per district per year -- relative to boys -- if the government had implemented it in the years 2001 to 2005. Additional results on postnatal channels show substantial impacts on long-run health outcomes of surviving girls, as rainfall no longer differentially affects girls' height-for-age, relative to boys', following the implementation of the program. In an important deviation from previous research, the entirety of the relationship between the sex ratio and rainfall is apparently driven by sex-selective abortions, not infant mortality.

Technology and its Impact on Child Sex Ratio in India

Technology and its Impact on Child Sex Ratio in India