Here’s the data on India’s ‘missing baby girls’ and the likely consequences

Source: The post is based on the article “Here’s the data on India’s ‘missing baby girls’ and the likely consequences” published in Business Standard on 29th August 2022.

What is the News?

Pew Research Center has released a report titled ‘India’s sex ratio at birth begins to normalise’.

What are the key findings of the report?

Sex Ratio at birth: India’s sex ratio has normalised slightly. It has come down from 111 boys per 100 girls in 2011 to 108 boys per 100 girls in 2019-21.

– Note: The natural sex ratio at birth is about 105 boys per 100 girls. 

Missing Girls: The “son bias” is on a decline in India and the average annual number of “baby girls missing” in India fell from approx. 4.8 lakh in 2010 to 4.1 lakh in 2019.

– Note: Missing females refers to how many births would have occurred during the time if there were no female selective abortions.

What is the impact of female abortions on society?

Aborting females may have consequences that reverberate beyond the families making the choice. 

International research shows that societies with high rates of sex-selective abortions typically suffer within a couple of decades from a shortage of marriageable women and a surplus of men seeking brides.

This can trigger a variety of other social problems, such as increases in sex-related violence and crimes and the trafficking of women.

Note: The United Nations in 2016 projected there is a 7% excess of marriageable men in India; it projected the share of extra marriageable males could reach 16% by 2040, well above the 5% norm.