EQUALIZING CHILD SEX RATIOS IN INDIA: UNDERSTANDING THE TRENDS, DISTRIBUTION, COMPOSITION, AND POTENTIAL DRIVERS
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Date
2014-02-28
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Johns Hopkins University
Abstract
Child sex ratios have been falling in recent decades in India, leading to an increasing number of missing girls. Although the country as a whole is becoming more imbalanced, in almost a quarter of districts the child sex ratio began to equalize between 2001 and 2011. This analysis explores the trends, composition, and drivers of the equalizing child sex ratios. Procedures and Methods: In the first paper, I test for evidence that the equalization in child sex ratios is associated with how imbalanced the sex ratio had been previously, at a district-level using fixed effects models. In the second paper, I decompose the equalization in child sex ratio into equalization in the sex ratio at birth (relating to pre-birth events) and reductions in excess female child mortality. I decompose districts by rural and urban populations and then explore the decomposition pattern by geographic clusters. In the third paper, I test various drivers of the equalization using individual level data and regression models. Specifically, I look at factors related to the marriage and labor market, changing social norms, and access to sex-selective technology. Results: The equalization in child sex ratios is associated with how imbalanced the sex ratio was in previous decades, controlling for other district-level socio-economic factors. Pre-birth events make up the majority of cause of imbalanced sex ratios, and though the magnitudes have gone down over time, the relative contribution from pre-birth events and mortality has remained the same. No substantial differences in the decomposition exist between rural and urban areas and based on geographic clusters. Finally, women’s labor force opportunities, both at the individual and community-level, are associated with the probability of a family having a boy and the community-level child sex ratio. Conclusions: Equalization in child sex ratios in Indian districts is related to the imbalance of the sex ratios in the past and female labor force opportunities. Most of the imbalance is due to pre-birth events rather than excess female child mortality, and a reduction in pre-birth events are also responsible for the majority of the magnitude of the equalization.
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child sex ratios, India, gender preference, demography, decomposition