China: Dangerously Distorted Sex Ratio the Result of Technology and Prejudice

In January, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) reported that within ten years, one in five men will be unable to marry because of the dearth of girls born in the country. This is based on the gender discrepancy of people age 19 and under. According to CASS, in 2020, China will have 30-40 million more young men under 19 than young women. This is the equivalent of having the entire US population of young men without the prospect of marriage.
“Gendercide” is seen as the unintended consequence of China’s one-child policy, according to a 1985 book by Mary Anne Warren. But the war on baby girls is not confined to China, as parts of India now have sex ratios as skewed and South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan also have peculiarly high numbers of male births. The same phenomenon is also evident in the Caucuses and Western Balkans.

Sociologists fear that the result of the skewed gender ratio will mean young men getting into trouble. In fact the crime rate has nearly doubled in China over ht past 20 years, and there are may stories of bride abductions, trafficking of women, rape and prostitution. In addition, female suicide rates in China are among the highest in the world, as are South Korea’s.

“The Worldwide War on Baby Girls,” The Economist, 3/6/10.