8 0
TO WA R D G E N D E R E Q UA L I T Y I N E A S T A S I A A N D T H E PAC I F I C
births decreases with the previous number of sons born between 2000 and 2006: 110.3 for no sons, 103.5 for one son, and 102.2 for two sons (UNFPA 2009). As a consequence, in comparison to other developing regions, the number of missing girls at birth in the East Asia and Pacific region, particularly in China, dominates the excess mortality risks for females after birth. The World Development Report 2012 uses the following methodology to calculate the number of missing girls at birth and excess female deaths in other parts of the life cycle. The number of missing girls at birth is calculated by comparing the sex ratio at birth in a particular country to the ratio in highincome countries (105.9 boys for 100 girls). Throughout the age distribution, excess female mortality is calculated by comparing the mortality risks of females relative to males in a particular age group in a country with the mortality risks in a reference group of high-income countries.10 Table 2.3 shows the number of missing girls at birth and excess female deaths per year, calculated using this methodology. Excess female mortality in infancy and during the reproductive years have substantially decreased in China. An estimated 71,000 girls under age five were missing in China in 2008, consistent with figure 2.10, which shows China’s high
female-to-male child mortality ratio. However, the most worrisome period of missing girls in China is at birth. The number of missing girls at birth increased from 890,000 in 1990 to 1,092,000 in 2008. Missing girls as a fraction of the total number of female births increased from 8.6 percent in 1990 to 13.3 percent in 2008. The reason for the missing girls phenomenon has been attributed to son preference (Das Gupta 2005). Parents’ preferential choices to keep and care for boys over girls can depend on social norms and values, different economic opportunities by gender, and what benefits parents expect from a son or a daughter. As an example of how economic opportunities influence parental choice over the gender of their child, Qian (2008) showed that the sex ratio at birth is responsive to returns in the labor markets for women in rural China. An increase in women’s income relative to men’s led to higher survival rates for girls. Another example of how parental choice responds to changing economic conditions is the rise of marriage migration—cross-border marriages between women from Southeast Asia and men from East Asia. Through a 2007 survey of three migrant-sending communities in southern Vietnam, Bélanger and Tran (2011) documented an enhanced status of emigrating daughters sending remittances
TABLE 2.3 The East Asia and Pacific region, mainly driven by China, is characterized by its large number of missing girls at birth Missing girls at birth and excess female deaths throughout the age distribution (1,000s per year) At birth China India Sub-Saharan Africa South Asia (excluding India) East Asia and Pacific (excluding China) Middle East and North Africa East and Central Asia Latin America and the Caribbean Total
1990 890 265 42 0 3 5 7 0 1,212
2008 1,092 257 53 1 4 6 14 0 1,427
Under 5 1990 259 428 183 99 14 13 3 11 1,010
2008 71 251 203 72 7 7 1 5 617
5–14 1990 21 94 61 32 14 4 0 3 230
2008 5 45 77 20 9 1 0 1 158
15–49 1990 208 388 302 176 137 43 12 20 1,286
2008 56 228 751 161 113 24 4 10 1,347
50–59 1990 92 81 50 37 48 15 4 17 343
2008 30 75 99 51 46 15 3 17 334
Total (under 60) 1990 1,470 1,255 639 346 216 80 27 51 4,082
2008 1,254 856 1,182 305 179 52 23 33 3,882
Source: World Bank 2011c. Note: Estimates are based on data from World Health Organization (WHO) 2010 and United Nations Department of Economics and Social Affairs, Population Division (UN DESA 2009).