Changing Gender Preference in China Today: Implications for the Sex Ratio

Zhou Chi, Zhou Xu Dong, Wang Xiao Lei, Zheng Wei Jun, Li Lu and Therese Hesketh
Additional contact information
Zhou Chi: Zhou Chi is at the Institute of Social and Family Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China. E-mail: zhouchi@zju.edu.cn
Zhou Xu Dong: Zhou Xu Dong is at the Institute of Social and Family Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China. E-mail: zhouzudong@zju.edu.cn
Wang Xiao Lei: Wang Xiao Lei is at the Institute of Social and Family Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China and is also at the College of Nursing, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 310036, China. E-mail: wxlwmm@126.com
Zheng Wei Jun: Zheng Wei Jun is at the Institute of Social and Family Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China. E-mail: deardangjun@160.com
Li Lu: Li Lu is at the Institute of Social and Family Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China. E-mail: lilu@zju.edu.cn

Indian Journal of Gender Studies, 2013, vol. 20, issue 1, 51-68

Abstract: There is growing evidence in China that son preference is on the decline. But sex ratios at birth, despite a recent small reduction, are still the highest in the world at around 120 male births to every 100 females. We carried out this research to explore current attitudes towards gender preference amongst people of reproductive age in China today, with a view to understanding better the persistently high sex ratio. We conducted in-depth interviews with 212 individuals, aged 18 to 39, in rural and urban areas of three provinces—Yunnan, Guizhou and Zhejiang—and have shown that while son preference has weakened considerably in this reproductive generation, it has by no means disappeared. The sex ratio remains high because of this small minority of individuals who still expresses a clear son preference and who choose sex-selective abortion to ensure male offspring. But its numbers are falling, and this may help to explain the recent downturn in sex ratio and perhaps signals the beginning of a trend towards its normalisation. Intensive local policy interventions have been successful in reducing the sex ratio in some areas and these should be disseminated widely.

Keywords: Son preference; sex ratio; China; policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0971521512465936 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:indgen:v:20:y:2013:i:1:p:51-68

DOI: 10.1177/0971521512465936

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Indian Journal of Gender Studies from Centre for Women's Development Studies
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().