Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T18:45:18.825Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Socio-economic factors and the sex ratio at birth

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Michael S. Teitelbaum  and
Nathan Mantel
Michael S. Teitelbaum
Affiliation:
Nuffield College, Oxford, and Epidemiology and Biometry Branches, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
Nathan Mantel
Affiliation:
Nuffield College, Oxford, and Epidemiology and Biometry Branches, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Using a large special study population and refined indicators of socio-economic status, the relationship of the live birth sex ratio to socio economic variables is examined. The analyses provide control for the possible confounding effects of race and birth order.

The sex ratio is shown to be significantly and positively associated with socio-economic variables. The relationship is not linear, however, but instead is characterized by an apparent ‘diminishing returns’ curve. The major increase in sex ratio is detected as socio-economic status increases from low to moderate. No significant change occurs between moderate and higher socio-economic levels.

Even after controlling for the significant socio-economic effect, the analyses detect a significant difference between the sex ratios of Whites on the one hand and Negroes and Puerto Ricans on the other.

No significant association between birth order and the sex ratio can be detected in the study population.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , January 1971 , pp. 23 - 42
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1971

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bernstein, M.D. (1948) Recent changes in the secondary sex ratio of the upper social strate. Hum. Biol. 20, 182.Google Scholar
Bernstein, M.D. (1954) Studies in the human sex ratio: 4. Evidence of genetic variation of the primary sex ratio in man. J. Hered. 45, 59.Google Scholar
Butler, N.R. & Bonham, D.G. (1963) Perinatal Mortality. Livingstone, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Chase, H.C. (1967) International Comparison of Perinatal and Infant Mortality: The United States and Six West European Countries. Public Health Service Publication No. 1000, Series 3, No. 6. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C.Google Scholar
Crew, F.A.E. (1948) Measurements of the Public Health. Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Fancher, H.L. (1956) The relation between the occupational status of individuals and the sex ratio of their offspring. Hum. Biol. 28, 316.Google Scholar
Goodman, L.A. (1961) Some possible effects of birth control on the human sex ratio. Ann. hum. Genet. 25, 81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lawrence, P.S. (1941) The sex ratio, fertility, and ancestral longevity. Q. Rev. Biol. 16, 35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mantel, N. (1963) Chi-square tests with one degree of freedom: extensions of the Mantel Haenszel procedure. J. Am. statist. Ass. 58, 690.Google Scholar
Mantel, N. & Haenszel, W. (1959) Statistical aspects of the analysis of data from retrospective studies of disease. J. natn. Cancer Inst. 22, 720.Google Scholar
Martin, W.J. (1948) The sex ratio. Med. Offr, 79, 153.Google Scholar
Myrianthopoulos, N.C. & French, K.S. (1968) An application of the US Bureau of the Census Socio-economic Index to a large, diversified patient population. Soc. Sci. & Med. 2, 283.Google Scholar
National Institute Of Neurological Diseases And Blindness (1966) The collaborative study of cerebral palsy, mental retardation and other neurological and sensory disorders of infancy and childhood. Part I. A synopsis.Google Scholar
Novitski, E. & Kimball, A.W. (1958) Birth order, parental ages, and sex of offspring. Am. J. hum. Genet. 10, 268.Google Scholar
Russell, W.T. (1936) Statistical study of the sex ratio at birth. J. Hyg., Camb. 36, 381.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stevenson, A.C. & Bobrow, M. (1967) Determinants of sex proportions in man, with consideration of the evidence concerning a contribution from X-linked mutations to intrauterine death. J. med. Genet. 4, 190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tettelbaum, M.S. (1970) Factors affecting the sex ratio in large populations. J. biosoc. Sci., Suppl. 2, 61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
US Bureau Of The Census (1963) Methodology and Scores of Socioeconomic Status. (Working Paper No. 15.) Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Winston, S. (1931) The influence of social factors upon the sex ratio at birth. Am. J. Social. 37, 1.Google Scholar