HumanistNetworkNews.org
Jan. 24, 2007
By 2020, 30 million Chinese men may find themselves single, whether they like it or not.
A recent report by the Chinese State Population and Family Planning Commission warned of a rising gender imbalance. For every 100 baby girls born in 2005, there were 119 baby boys; in some provinces there were 130 baby boys for every 100 baby girls. The gap will continue to widen, resulting in 30 million more men than women by 2020.
This gender imbalance, along with an aging population and rapid urbanization, could be destabilizing. China's rapidly aging population could also strain social services and the social welfare system, affecting relations between generations and social harmony, the report stated.
A "shortage" of women does not lead to their increased value, but to greater control over and crimes against them. A large gender gap could lead to increased prostitution, human trafficking and kidnapping. The majority of violent crimes, sexual and otherwise, are committed by young men; 30 million sexually-frustrated men do not bode well for a peaceful future China.
Previous gender imbalances in China have led to major political upheaval. In the 19th century, the Nien rebellion was in part blamed on an excess male population, estimated at 100,000, that was caused by an earlier famine and widespread female infanticide.
How and why did this gender imbalance occur? Traditional Chinese society (and most Asian societies) prefers sons, who not only carry on the family name but act as a social security system for their parents. In the past, and still in some parts of China and Asia today, sons remained in the family home even after marriage to care for their parents, while daughters went to live with the parents of her husband.
In 1980, the Chinese government limited each family to one child to try to prevent a population explosion. Parents became very interested in ensuring that their only child was a son. In 1984 popular discontent led to a "one-and-a-half-child policy" in rural areas; if a couple's first child is a son, they cannot have another child, but if the child is female, they may have a second child.
The change in policy still failed to prevent a gender imbalance from emerging. To make sure that their only child is a son, parents often use ultrasound to determine the gender of their fetus and elect to have an abortion if the fetus is female. Female infanticide, whether outright or through neglect, is common (I recall seeing a photo of a female infant "disposed of" on the streets of Beijing.). When a son is sick, parents are willing to spend their savings to care for him, whereas a daughter may not get the medical care she needs.
Chinese authorities have vowed to take tough measures to control fetus gender testing and sex-selective abortions to hold back the rising sex ratio imbalance. Last year it scrapped plans to make sex-selective abortion -- which is already banned -- a crime. They may reconsider making it a crime that can lead to prosecution of health-care providers and parents. Medical institutions that use ultra-sound technology and abortion medicines will be more closely supervised.
Authorities also pledged to improve protection of baby girls, saying that people who kill, abandon or injure infant girls or mistreat their mothers should be severely punished. The government will continue its "care for girls" campaign that it began in 2000 to promote equality between men and women and will continue to offer cash incentives to girl-only families in the countryside.
Promoting equality is only part of narrowing the gender gap. "To solve the problem, there must be a full-fledged social security system so that rural residents don't have to depend on their sons when they get old," stated Wang Guangzhou, a researcher at the Institute of Population and Labor Economics.
Still, the Chinese government reaffirmed its commitment to its one-child policy, believing that population growth is a greater danger to China's future than a gender imbalance.
Although it does not have a one-child policy, India faces a similar gender imbalance. (Indeed, many Asian countries face an imbalance; Taiwan has 119 boys to 100 girls, Singapore has 118 boys to 100 girls and South Korea has 112 boys to 100 girls). Although the government has tried to narrow it for decades, India's gender imbalance has widened in recent years.
Many couples, aided by medical technology and weak enforcement of laws banning sex-selective abortion, are electing to end a pregnancy if the fetus is female. Female infanticide continues to be a major problem. Nearly 60 percent of girls born in the Salem District are killed within three days of birth, according to the local social welfare department. This has led to 927 girls per 1,000 boys in India.
Parents' preference for a boy derives from the widespread belief that a son lighting his parents' funeral pyre will ensure that their souls ascend to heaven; that he will be a provider in their later years (India has no form of social security); and that he will preserve the family inheritance.
Conversely, a daughter is considered an economic burden. Some families must borrow heavily to pay for the rituals prescribed for a girl -- her ear-piercing ceremony, wedding jewelry, presents for the groom's family on every Hindu festival and above all, her dowry.
Activists are working to counter the forces of tradition by improving the standing of women in society. Like the Chinese government, the Indian government also offers cash incentives to parents. Tamil Nadu's "Girl Protection" program provides parents with a bank account in a girl's name at her birth and deposits between 15,000 and 22,000 rupees during her childhood, depending on the number of girls in the family. Many parts of India offer free or subsidized education for girls.
What is especially surprising is that the gender imbalance cuts across all religions and all sections of Indian society. The most prosperous Indian states, such as Haryana, Punjab and Gujarat, have the lowest sex ratio. Therefore, the factors that cause the imbalance cannot to attributed to a lack of education or money or because of a regional custom; they are a result of deeply embedded beliefs in Indian society.
Can attitudes toward women be changed to avert a future catastrophe? There is one Asian country that traditionally preferred sons and now prefers daughters: Japan. Surveys show that up to 75 percent of young Japanese parents now prefer baby girls. Daughters are seen as more emotionally accessible and, ever more important in this fast-aging society, more likely to look after their elderly parents.
Elaine Friedman is the editor of Humanist Network News, the weekly e-zine of the Institute for Humanist Studies.
prev story