| 1. Title: China's birth control policy drives some to kill baby girls. Author: Weisskopf M Source: WASHINGTON POST. 1985 Jan 8;:A1, A10. Abstract: There is some evidence that China's 1-child policy has led to a dramatic increase in female infanticide. The nationwide ratio of male to female births greatly exceeds world standards and in some areas 5 boys are born for every girl. Boys serve as social security for elderly parents in Chinese society, whereas girls move in with their husband's parents after marriage. There have been reports of drowning, suffocation, poisoning, and desertion of infant girls, and scientific tests and superstitious rites to forecast fetal gender are popular. The pressure to produce a son has driven many mothers of girl infants to suicide. The 1981 Census recorded 10,765,292 male births and 9,924,412 female births, representing an unusually high sex ratio of 108.5 males to 100 females (1.085). This suggests a loss of 232,000 baby girls in 1981. Although Chinese authorities have refused to publish sex ratios of newborns after 1981, the ratio is believed to have been 1.09 in 1982 and 1.11 in 1983. The Government has launched a campaign to promote the equality of male and female children; however, the vast majority of cased of female infanticide are not prosecuted. Language: English Keywords: CHINA | ONE CHILD POLICY | ANTINATALIST POLICY | POPULATION POLICY | SOCIAL POLICY | POLICY | POLITICAL FACTORS | SONS | SEX PREFERENCE | FAMILY SIZE, IDEAL | FAMILY SIZE | FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS | SEX RATIO | SEX DISTRIBUTION | SEX FACTORS | POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS | INFANTICIDE | CRIME | SOCIAL PROBLEMS | WOMEN | Developing Countries | Asia, Eastern | Asia | Family Relationships | Family and Household | Value Orientation | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Demographic Factors | Population Document Number: 028719 |
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