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Does the prenatal factor or the postnatal factor contribute more to changes in the child sex ratio in India? An investigation in the context of fertility and mortality transition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2021

Ajit Kumar Yadav Open the ORCID record for Ajit Kumar Yadav [Opens in a new window] ,
Faujdar Ram ,
Akansha Singh  and
Chander Shekhar
Ajit Kumar Yadav*
Affiliation:
Gender Equity and Health Project, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, India
Faujdar Ram
Affiliation:
International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, India
Akansha Singh
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Durham Research Methods Centre, Durham University, Durham, UK
Chander Shekhar
Affiliation:
Department of Fertility Studies, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai, India
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

There has been a drastic decline in the child sex ratio (number of females per 1000 males between ages 0 and 4) in India and many of its states. This study aimed to examine if prenatal factors, such as change in sex ratio at birth, or postnatal factors, such as change in relative mortality of females and males, contribute to this more by analysing the dynamics of the child sex ratio. Changes in the child sex ratio during 2001–2011 were decomposed into a ‘fertility’ component attributable to prenatal sex selection and a ‘mortality’ component attributable to sex differentials in postnatal survival at the country as well as the state level. Between the prenatal factor and the postnatal factor, the contribution of the latter to the declining child sex ratio has been greater than the former in India as a whole and in most of the states. By focusing on both prenatal and postnatal factors, the imbalance in the child sex ratio in the country can be reduced to a large extent.

Keywords

Child sex ratioPrenatal factorPostnatal factor
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 54 , Issue 3 , May 2022 , pp. 473 - 481
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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