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A Phenomenon Not Unique to China

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The Demographic Masculinization of China

Part of the book series: INED Population Studies ((INPS,volume 1))

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Abstract

The global female deficit was estimated to total 100 million in the 1990s, and by far the largest share of this deficit was in Asia (Sen 1990; Klasen and Wink 2002), currently the only continent with a majority of men (Table 6.1). China is not the only country responsible for this Asian particularity, however. A male surplus also exists in several neighbouring countries, including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Together with China, these countries, which are home to around 3 billion of the world’s population of 7 billion, reported an estimated female deficit of 89.3 million in the early 2000s: 40.9 million in China, 39.1 million in India, 4.9 million in Pakistan and 3.7 million in Bangladesh (Klasen and Wink 2002). As in China, the female deficit in those Asian countries results from discriminatory practices (the elimination of girls by sex-selective abortion and/or excess female mortality in childhood and adulthood), which can be interpreted as a manifestation of patriarchal societies in a period of economic modernization.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The data presented here are extracted from World Population Prospects, the 2008 Revision. However, the corresponding interactive website is no longer available at the time of publication. It is now replaced by World Population Prospects, the 2010 Revision, available at http://esa.un.org/wpp/unpp/panel_population.htm

  2. 2.

    For more information on the situation in these countries, see Attané and Véron (2005), Attané and Guilmoto (2007) and Croll (2000).

  3. 3.

    Statistics Korea. Available at http://kostat.go.kr

  4. 4.

    For more information on recent trends in population policy in these countries, see in particular Cho Namhoon (2000) and Kim (2000) (on Republic of Korea); Chang (2005) (on Taiwan), Attané and Scornet (2009) (on Vietnam and China) and Guilmoto and Kulkarni (2004) (on India).

  5. 5.

    In 2005–2010, life expectancy at birth in Republic of Korea was 75.9 years for men and 82.5 years for women (UN-WPP 2008). Note, however, that excess female child mortality was observed in Republic of Korea in the 1960s and 1970s (Choe 1987).

  6. 6.

    Ibid.

  7. 7.

    The Human Development Index (HDI) was developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It combines the following indicators: life expectancy at birth, adult literacy rate, gross enrollment ratio in primary, secondary and tertiary education, and per capita GNI (PPP US$), to give an overall level of human development in the countries measured. The ranking presented here, for 179 countries, was established in 2008.

  8. 8.

    Human Development Index, UNDP: http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/

  9. 9.

    Brisset (1995).

  10. 10.

    Concluding Observations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: Bangladesh, 12 August 1997, Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, United Nations http://< http://www.wfrt.org/humanrts/cedaw/cedaw-bangladesh.htm>.

  11. 11.

    Prevails a system of “matrimonial compensation” or “bride price”, which is the goods transferred from the groom’s family to the bride’s family on the wedding. With the increase in the cost of living due to economic reform, marriage is becoming increasingly expensive for the groom and his family.

  12. 12.

    Certain interpretations of the Koran consider that an abortion performed after the fourth month of pregnancy (120 days), i.e. after the “ensoulment” of the foetus, is a murder. Given that the sex of a foetus usually cannot be determined before that date, this might explain the lower propensity of Muslims to use this practice. In: L’avortement et l’islam. Available at http://www.muslimfr.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=158. Accessed 19 June 2009.

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  1. Institut national d’études démographiques, 133 boulevard Davout, 75980, Paris Cedex 20, France

    Isabelle Attané

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Attané, I. (2013). A Phenomenon Not Unique to China. In: The Demographic Masculinization of China. INED Population Studies, vol 1. Springer, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00236-1_6

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