WUNRN
CHINA - SERIOUS GENDER IMBALANCE IN
POPULATION
PRENATAL SEX SELECTION - PREFERENCE
FOR BOYS - BRIDE SHORTAGE +
China - 24m Men to be
Mateless by End of Decade
·
Source:
Global Times
· 03:02
January 11 2010]
·
Babies born on National Day, October 1, 2009, sleep in a
hospital in
By Qiu
Wei
More than
24 million Chinese men of marrying age could find themselves without a mate by
2020, according to a government-sponsored think tank, which cited an uneven
birthrate as the cause.
Gender-selection
abortions propelled by the centuries-old preference for boys were accused of
contributing to the unbalanced sex ratio, according to Contemporary Chinese
Social Structure, a book compiled by the
Sex-selective
abortions remained extremely commonplace, especially in rural areas," the
book says, noting that illegal sex-selection services for non-medical reasons
are still available and affordable.
CASS ranked
the distorted sex ratio the most prominent problem in the country's population
structure.
The reasons
behind
The trend
of gender imbalance among newborns has slowed since 2005, but it is still much
higher than what is considered the normal sex ratio at birth (SRB) of 103-107
males for every 100 females, according to the National Population and Family
Planning Commission.
The nation
has seen an increase in its SRB since the 1980s, from 108 boys for every 100
girls in 1982, to 111 in 1990, and 116 in 2000. The latest official indication
of the ratio, from 2005, stood at 119 boys for every 100 girls.
Wang
Guangzhou, a researcher with the
"The
problem is more serious in rural areas due to the lack of a social security
system there," Wang said. "Aging farmers have to rely on their
offspring."
Wang
declined to conclude that the surplus of 24 million men would mean more
bachelors, but he said it will aggravate issues such as low-income men's
hardship to find wives and a rise in the age gap between spouses.
Wang
Yuesheng, another CASS researcher on population, warned that males in
poverty-stricken areas would be forced to accept late marriage or remain single
their entire lives, which may "cause a break in family lines."
"The
chance of getting married will be rare if a man is more than 40 years old in
the countryside. They will be more dependent on social security as they age and
have fewer household resources to rely on," Wang said.
But
contrary to some beliefs, the sex imbalance isn't good news for females either,
as the age gap will undoubtedly widen between spouses.
The
sex-imbalance problem can be traced back to the late 1980s when B-ultrasound
technologies used for gender identification of fetuses became available, and some
Chinese women, out of traditional male favoritism, often chose to abort after
learning that they were carrying female fetuses.
According
to the National Population and Family Planning Commission, abductions and
trafficking of women and infants are rampant in areas with a high SRB.
Some places
are hit by crime by cross-country abductions and illegal marriages, and even
forced prostitution, the commission said.
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