WATERING THE NEIGHBOUR'S GARDEN: THE GROWING - CICRED

SEX RATIO AT BIRTH AND EXCESS FEMALE CHILD MORTALITY IN INDIA…
the possibility that parents may realise their desire to have fewer girls
than boys by discriminating particularly heavily against some of their
daughters. The evidence of strong son preference is now correspondingly
matched by persuasive evidence of both prenatal and postnatal
female discrimination.
2. Context and methodology
The region comprising the northern and western states of India,
where evidence of stronger son preference is well documented, has the
history of most imbalanced sex ratio. The corresponding link between
adverse female/male child mortality differentials and the recent sharp
rise in child sex ratios, related to foetal mortality, constitutes the main
focus of this analysis. Set in this context, this chapter assesses the
evidence of trends and regional patterns in sex bias against female
children. It explores the dynamics of gender bias in terms of two
proximate determinants of sex ratio, namely, sex ratio at birth and
excess female child mortality.
Evidence on the following three aspects of sex ratio determinants
are examined in this chapter:
First, the trends and regional patterns in sex ratio at birth and the
last birth (SRLB) are examined. We also make use of directly related
and complementary evidence on the use of ultrasound and amniocentesis
as well as stopping rule behaviour.
Second, given that overall excess female child mortality averages
60 to 65 percent in the northern and northern central regions, the
extent of excess female child mortality compared to boys of respective
rank is explored. The evidence of female neglect in child health as the
corresponding link to excess female child mortality is presented.
Third, the analysis questions whether, given the cultural constraints
of patriarchy, development factors such as women’s education
and household economic status tend to exacerbate the rise in sex ratio
at birth or, alternately, reduce gender differences in health care and
child mortality. In effect, development factors might operate in the
opposite direction with gender inequalities contributing to development
failures in general (Drèze and Sen, 2002).
The two rounds of National Family Health Survey data (NFHS-1
and 2, 1992-93 and 1998-99) are used, both to compare and assess
changing trends and regional patterns. The birth histories obtained
from women’s questionnaire of both rounds are used in the analysis of
sex ratio at birth and excess female child mortality. NFHS-1 lists
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