Intensifying Masculinity of Sex Ratios in India: New Evidence 1981-1991

Abstract

We use data from the 1981 and 1991 censuses of India to examine (a) sex ratios among infants aged under 2, (b) child mortality (q5) by sex, and (c) estimated period sex ratios at birth (SRB) calculated by reverse survival methods, to see whether bias against female children persists during development and fertility decline, and whether techniques of prenatal sex determination and abortion of female foetuses are spreading in India as elsewhere in Asia. In 1981, rural and urban infancy sex ratios and estimated SRB for most states appear within the ‘normal’ range (104-106 males/100 females). However, urban Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Jammu and Kashmir in the North / North-West zone appear masculine (108 or more). In 1991 however, these North / North-Western urban areas show starkly masculine SRB’s, as do the corresponding rural areas, Delhi, UP, and urban Gujarat, Bihar, Rajasthan, MP, Maharashtra, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Values reach as high as 118 for urban Punjab.