Gap narrows but boys still prove a problem for China
Source: Xinhua |
March 30, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE notoriously problematic gap between the number of boys and girls born in China has narrowed in the past three years, according to yesterday's People's Daily.
It is the first sustained alleviation in the gender ratio in 30 years, its report said.
But the figure is still higher than a warning limit and the country faces an arduous task to redress its gender imbalance, according to the newspaper.
Census data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that China's gender ratio stood at 117.78 newborn boys for every 100 baby girls in 2011, down from 119.45 in 2009 and 117.94 in 2010.
The figures indicate that government measures, including crackdowns on illegal prenatal gender tests and selective abortions, are proving effective, Zhang Jian, an official with the National Population and Family Planning Commission, said.
A natural gender ratio at birth should be somewhere between 103 and 107 boys to every 100 girls. Due to the higher mortality of boys, the ratio balances out by the time each generation reaches the age to have its own children.
However, since ultrasound enabled fetal gender testing in China in the 1980s, the country's gender ratio for newborn babies has remained at a high level, and reached 120.56 in 2008.
Even after the decrease of the past three years, the figure is still 10 percentage points above the warning limit, which is when newborn males outnumber females by 10 percent. It is estimated that, by 2020 China will have 24 million more men than women at marriage age.
Gender imbalance is not just a population problem but a grave social problem, Zhang said.
Between August 2011 and March 2012, six government departments, including the commission and the ministries of health and public security, launched special campaigns to crack down on illegal gender tests and abortions.
Also, in 2011 authorities in east China's Jiangxi Province solved 2,064 cases of such violations and revoked the licenses of 312 medical workers.
Experts have proposed enhanced efforts to promote equal opportunities and the social status of females as a fundamental solution to the problem.
A preference for boys became conventional in China's era of underdevelopment, when boys were favored as stronger laborers.
The problem lingers in modern China. Even in some affluent coastal areas, gender ratio figures are climbing, the report said.
Women still lag behind men in job opportunities, career positions and salary, said Yang Juhua, a professor at Renmin University of China.
It is the first sustained alleviation in the gender ratio in 30 years, its report said.
But the figure is still higher than a warning limit and the country faces an arduous task to redress its gender imbalance, according to the newspaper.
Census data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that China's gender ratio stood at 117.78 newborn boys for every 100 baby girls in 2011, down from 119.45 in 2009 and 117.94 in 2010.
The figures indicate that government measures, including crackdowns on illegal prenatal gender tests and selective abortions, are proving effective, Zhang Jian, an official with the National Population and Family Planning Commission, said.
A natural gender ratio at birth should be somewhere between 103 and 107 boys to every 100 girls. Due to the higher mortality of boys, the ratio balances out by the time each generation reaches the age to have its own children.
However, since ultrasound enabled fetal gender testing in China in the 1980s, the country's gender ratio for newborn babies has remained at a high level, and reached 120.56 in 2008.
Even after the decrease of the past three years, the figure is still 10 percentage points above the warning limit, which is when newborn males outnumber females by 10 percent. It is estimated that, by 2020 China will have 24 million more men than women at marriage age.
Gender imbalance is not just a population problem but a grave social problem, Zhang said.
Between August 2011 and March 2012, six government departments, including the commission and the ministries of health and public security, launched special campaigns to crack down on illegal gender tests and abortions.
Also, in 2011 authorities in east China's Jiangxi Province solved 2,064 cases of such violations and revoked the licenses of 312 medical workers.
Experts have proposed enhanced efforts to promote equal opportunities and the social status of females as a fundamental solution to the problem.
A preference for boys became conventional in China's era of underdevelopment, when boys were favored as stronger laborers.
The problem lingers in modern China. Even in some affluent coastal areas, gender ratio figures are climbing, the report said.
Women still lag behind men in job opportunities, career positions and salary, said Yang Juhua, a professor at Renmin University of China.
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