Sex ratio drops if mum's rich, educated: Study

A study published by British medical journal, Lancet shows that Indians whose firstborn are female are more likely to go in for sex selection. Published on Friday, the study talks of “conditional sex ratio” for second order births. When the firstborn  was a girl, the sex ratio fell from 906 per 1000 boys in 1990 to 836 in 2005 with an annual decline of 0.52%. The analysis was done on the basis of National Family Health Surveys.

It also found that the decline in sex ratios was greater in mothers with 10 or more years of education than those with no education, and in wealthier households. “The selective abortion of girls is more common in educated or richer households, presumably because they can afford ultrasound and abortion services more readily than uneducated or poorer households. Recent increases in literacy and Indian per-person income might have contributed to increased selective abortion of girls,” the study stated.

“This shows that more and more people want a  small family and with a boy in it,” said AL Sharda, programme director, Population First.

The study also mentions the ineffectiveness of the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act (PNDT).  “The act has not worked. The 2011 census shows that there are problematic areas where sex selection is practiced and not just a few districts,” said Dr F Ram, director of International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) who participated in the study.