Trends in female-selective abortion among Asian diasporas in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia
Preference for sons and smaller families and, in the case of China, a one-child policy, have contributed to missing girl births in India and China over the last few decades due to sex-selective abortions. Selective abortion occurs also among Indian and Chinese diaspora, but their variability and tre...
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| Format: | Article |
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eLife Sciences Publications Ltd
2022-09-01
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| Series: | eLife |
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| Online Access: | https://elifesciences.org/articles/79853 |
| _version_ | 1811204002847653888 |
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| author | Catherine Meh Prabhat Jha |
| author_facet | Catherine Meh Prabhat Jha |
| author_sort | Catherine Meh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Preference for sons and smaller families and, in the case of China, a one-child policy, have contributed to missing girl births in India and China over the last few decades due to sex-selective abortions. Selective abortion occurs also among Indian and Chinese diaspora, but their variability and trends over time are unknown. We examined conditional sex ratio (CSR) of girl births per 1000 boy births among second or third births following earlier daughters or sons in India, China, and their diaspora in Australia, Canada, United Kingdom (UK), and United States (US) drawing upon 18.4 million birth records from census and nationally representative surveys from 1999 to 2019. Among Indian women, the CSR in 2016 for second births following a first daughter favoured boys in India (866), similar to those in diaspora in Australia (888) and Canada (882). For third births following two earlier daughters in 2016, CSRs favoured sons in Canada (520) and Australia (653) even more than in India (769). Among women in China outside the one-child restriction, CSRs in 2015 for second order births somewhat favoured more girls after a first son (1154) but more heavily favoured boys after a first daughter (561). Third-birth CSRs generally fell over time among diaspora, except among Chinese diaspora in the UK and US. In the UK, third-birth CSRs fell among Indian but not among other South Asian diasporas. Selective abortion of girls is notable among Indian diaspora, particularly at higher-order births. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T03:04:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-deb33851dcb340a886a7f7112bd11eb3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-084X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T03:04:26Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
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| spelling | doaj.art-deb33851dcb340a886a7f7112bd11eb32022-12-22T03:50:33ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2022-09-011110.7554/eLife.79853Trends in female-selective abortion among Asian diasporas in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and AustraliaCatherine Meh0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2476-8439Prabhat Jha1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7067-8341Centre for Global Health Research, Unity Health Toronto and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, CanadaCentre for Global Health Research, Unity Health Toronto and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, CanadaPreference for sons and smaller families and, in the case of China, a one-child policy, have contributed to missing girl births in India and China over the last few decades due to sex-selective abortions. Selective abortion occurs also among Indian and Chinese diaspora, but their variability and trends over time are unknown. We examined conditional sex ratio (CSR) of girl births per 1000 boy births among second or third births following earlier daughters or sons in India, China, and their diaspora in Australia, Canada, United Kingdom (UK), and United States (US) drawing upon 18.4 million birth records from census and nationally representative surveys from 1999 to 2019. Among Indian women, the CSR in 2016 for second births following a first daughter favoured boys in India (866), similar to those in diaspora in Australia (888) and Canada (882). For third births following two earlier daughters in 2016, CSRs favoured sons in Canada (520) and Australia (653) even more than in India (769). Among women in China outside the one-child restriction, CSRs in 2015 for second order births somewhat favoured more girls after a first son (1154) but more heavily favoured boys after a first daughter (561). Third-birth CSRs generally fell over time among diaspora, except among Chinese diaspora in the UK and US. In the UK, third-birth CSRs fell among Indian but not among other South Asian diasporas. Selective abortion of girls is notable among Indian diaspora, particularly at higher-order births.https://elifesciences.org/articles/79853sex ratio at birthconditional sex ratiosex-selective abortionson preferenceone-child policyIndia, China sex ratio |
| spellingShingle | Catherine Meh Prabhat Jha Trends in female-selective abortion among Asian diasporas in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia eLife sex ratio at birth conditional sex ratio sex-selective abortion son preference one-child policy India, China sex ratio |
| title | Trends in female-selective abortion among Asian diasporas in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia |
| title_full | Trends in female-selective abortion among Asian diasporas in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia |
| title_fullStr | Trends in female-selective abortion among Asian diasporas in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Trends in female-selective abortion among Asian diasporas in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia |
| title_short | Trends in female-selective abortion among Asian diasporas in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia |
| title_sort | trends in female selective abortion among asian diasporas in the united states united kingdom canada and australia |
| topic | sex ratio at birth conditional sex ratio sex-selective abortion son preference one-child policy India, China sex ratio |
| url | https://elifesciences.org/articles/79853 |
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