Exploring the Importance of Excess Female Mortality and Discrimination in 'Natality' in Explaining the 'Lowness' of the Sex Ratio in India

Abstract

The beginning of the present century has been marked by a shift in attention from excess female mortality to discrimination in natality in explaining the 'lowness' of the sex ratio or weight of women in India's population. Such a shift in focus seemingly suggests that discrimination in intra-family allocation of resources has been reduced substantially in India. In this context, an attempt has been made to decompose the observed ' lowness' of the sex ratio in India into that attributable to (l) young age structure, (2) 'excess' female mortality, (3) abnormality in sex ratio at birth in India. Estimated contributions of each factor suggest that, as late as in 2001, 'excess' female mortality or 'lowness' of relative survival advantage of females accounts for as much as 65.63 per cent of the 'lowness' of the sex ratio in India.