Where have all the young girls gone?: Fatal discrimination of daughters ; a regional comparison

In: China perspectives: Shenzhou-zhanwang, Heft 57, S. 2-11

Abstract

This article looks at regional discrimination against daughters in China. To see where and why this discrimination occurs, it considers a number of demographic variables, such as infant and child mortality by sex as well as sex ratios of populations in East, South-East, and South Asia. It refutes the idea that rigid population control is the main cause of skewed sex ratios. An amalgam of cultural and economic factors are seen as the main contributing causes including a lack of institutionalised old age support from the state and a culture that gives the main responsibility for this to sons. (China Perspect/DÜI)